The total value of office property bought by investors in the first quarter of this year was $10.7 billion, down 68% from the same period last year.
Office Leasing
U.S. office leasing volume fell to 38.5 million square feet in the first three months of 2023, the third consecutive quarter of slowing demand and a 9.8% decline from Q4 2020. Leasing activity was also 10.7% less than was recorded in Q4 2022.
Office Return
About 58% of companies allow employees to work a portion of their week from home with the number of companies that require employees to be in the office full time declining to 42%, from 49% three months ago.
Oneok Magellan
Pipeline operator Oneok agreed Sunday to buy smaller rival Magellan Midstream Partners for about $14 billion, a deal that would form one of the biggest U.S. companies involved in transporting and storing energy.
Hospitality Wages
The Bureau of Labor Statistics published the latest average hourly earnings of employees in the accommodation sector and the preliminary average March wage stood at $23.33, the highest amount on record. The change from a year ago was an increase of just over 6%.
Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction hit a 36-year high in 2022, reflecting two effects of the tight pandemic labor market: The quality of jobs improved as wages and work flexibility increased, and workers moved into positions that were a better fit. Last year, 62.3% of U.S. workers said they were satisfied with their jobs, up from 60.2% in 2021 and 56.8% in 2020.
Golden Handcuffs
Many Americans who want to move are trapped in their homes—locked in by low interest rates they can’t afford to give up. The reluctance of homeowners to sell differentiates the current housing market from past downturns and could keep home prices from falling significantly on a national basis.
Urban Decline
Pedestrian foot traffic in U.S. urban downtowns was down about 25% in April compared with the same month in 2019 with urban retail availability surpassing suburban availability for the first time since 2013.
Hotel Asset Managers
Hotel asset managers surveyed with 64.6% of respondents ranking wage increases as one of the factors they are most concerned about, followed by 57.3% who are worried about labor availability and 52.4% concerned about demand.
Residential Supply
New single-family home sales are bouncing back with supply tight in the existing-home market. Active listings in March stood at roughly half of where they were four years earlier, in part because higher mortgage rates made many homeowners reluctant to sell and give up their current low rates.