Foreclosure filings soared 115% in 2022 compared to the prior year as the last of the federal moratoriums expired, but they were still 34% lower than 2019 levels.
Hotel Demand Forecast
While GDP is expected to dip, STR’s latest forecast for 2023 has U.S. hotel demand increasing 2.8% and RevPAR, increasing 3.4%. RevPAR growth is expected to be evenly split between higher occupancy and an increase in ADR, each growing at the same rate of 1.7%.
Office Vacancy
The U.S. office vacancy rate was 12.3% at the end of the third quarter, about where it was at its peak during the global financial crisis. The rates in some major metro areas—including New York, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco—are at the highest levels recorded.
Bank Profit
The major banks are expected to post some $28 billion in profits in the fourth quarter, down 15% from a year earlier.
Fontainebleau Vegas
Developers of the long-delayed Fontainebleau resort and casino have obtained $2.2 billion in construction financing. The 67-story resort is under construction on 25 acres on the northern end of the Strip near the Las Vegas Convention Center. Plans include 3,700 hotel rooms, 550,000 square feet of convention and meeting space, and several gambling, dining and retail venues.
IPO Volume
IPOs in the U.S., excluding offerings by special-purpose acquisition companies, raised $8.6 billion in 2022, far below the roughly $56 billion annual average over the past decade
Office REIT Performance
Shares in office real-estate investment trusts are down 45%, including dividends, since February 2020. That's compared with about a 5% decline for the equity real-estate investment trust index.
Apartment Adds
Nearly half a million new apartment units—the most of any year since 1986—are expected to complete construction by the end of 2023. That will come after more than 400,000 units were completed during 2022.
UC BREIT
University of California will invest $4 Billion in Blackstone’s BREIT real-estate vehicle. UC Investments will put its BREIT shares into a strategic venture to which Blackstone will contribute $1 billion of BREIT shares that it already owns. The venture will have an 11.25% hurdle rate, meaning that if BREIT’s net annualized return exceeds that rate, Blackstone will get an extra 5% incentive fee. If the vehicle’s performance falls short of the 11.25% rate, Blackstone will make up the difference.
Company Dividends
Companies in the S&P 500 allocated an estimated $561 billion toward dividends in 2022, up from $511.2 billion in 2021 and the highest amount on record.