There were 23,204 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in January, which is up 29% from the month prior, 139% from the same time a year ago and the highest rate since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
BX Crown
Crown Resorts Ltd., one of Australia’s biggest casino operators, said it agreed to a $6.3 billion takeover by Blackstone Inc., following a roughly yearlong effort by the U.S. private-equity giant to acquire the company.
Pandemic Wealth
The average net worth of households headed by someone aged 55 to 64 rose by $180,095 between Jan. 1, 2020 and Sept. 30, 2021, an increase of 15.3%.
Inflation Record
U.S. inflation accelerated last month to 7.5%, a new four-decade high.
Foreign Investment
Foreign investment in U.S. commercial property surpassed pre-pandemic levels last year. Pensions, sovereign-wealth funds and other foreign institutions purchased $70.8 billion of U.S. commercial real estate in 2021. That was the highest total since the $94.6 billion invested in 2018, and nearly double the 2020 figure.
Super Bowl Rates
For the Super Bowl, analysts anticipate near-record average daily room rates of $445. Occupancy is expected to reach 89% and REVPAR is forecast near $400 a night. If those projections prove accurate, Los Angeles would notch the second-highest average-daily room rates on record for Super Bowl host cities, after Miami in 2020.
Spirit Frontier
Spirit Airlines and Frontier Group are merging in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $6.6 billion.
Airfreight
The world’s biggest shipping lines, flush with cash, are buying their own fleets of cargo planes and adding airlifts for big clients willing to pay extra to get around supply-chain snarls at sea resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. Airfreight accounts for less than 1% of global trade by volume but 35% by value.
Business Travel
Occupancy rates and room revenue are likely to approach 2019 levels in 2022, but the outlook for ancillary revenue is less optimistic. Business travel is expected to remain down more than 20 percent for much of the year, and only 58 percent of meetings and events are expected to return.
Suntex Westrec
The second-largest owner of U.S. marinas is acquiring the third-largest owner, creating a new powerhouse in this niche real-estate business as boat sales surge during the pandemic. Centerbridge Partners LP said it is paying about $400 million for Westrec Marinas, which the investment firm will absorb into its own Suntex Marinas. That will create a combined company with more than 50 marinas that is valued at $2.5 billion, making it the second-highest-valued U.S. marina owner after Safe Harbor Marinas.