The median existing-home sales price in May topped $350,000 for the first time. The figure was nearly 24% higher than a year ago, the biggest year-over-year price increase NAR has recorded in data going back to 1999.
Hotel CMBS
CMBS hotel loans weigh on industry recovery as delinquencies decline but more borrowers are seeking workouts for their debt.
Fannie Mae
The Biden administration ousted the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency after the Supreme Court ruled it was structured unconstitutionally, and rejected most claims by a group of investors who challenged a government decision to channel the firms’ profits to the Treasury Department. The most commonly traded class of Fannie Mae preferred shares closed at $2.52 a share Wednesday, down about 62% from its close a day earlier.
Weekly Occupancy
Including temporarily closed hotels, weekly U.S. hotel occupancy was 63%, the highest since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, and weekend occupancy also set a pandemic-era record at 75%.
BX Acquires Home Partners
Blackstone Group Inc. has agreed to buy Home Partners of America Inc., a company that buys and rents single-family homes, in a $6 billion deal that’s a sign Wall Street believes the U.S. housing market is going to stay hot. Home Partners owns more than 17,000 houses throughout the U.S., which it bought, rents out and offers its tenants the chance to eventually buy.
Supply Chains
Economists and business executives now expect supply-chain disruptions and key labor shortages to persist through the end of the year.
Airport Travelers
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on Sunday screened more than 2 million travelers at airports – the highest number since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020.
ESA Sold
Shareholders approve Extended Stay America sale to Blackstone and Starwood Capital for $20.50 per paired share. The transaction includes the Extended Stay America brand, management operations and its owned hotel portfolio, which at the close of 2020 comprised 563 properties. The deal is scheduled to close on June 16.
Inflation Hedge
Investors looking to cushion their portfolios against inflation helped real-estate stocks lead the S&P 500 in recent weeks. The real-estate sector, which focuses on companies that rent properties, has gained 14% this quarter, more than double the 6.9% gain of the broader stock index.
Return to Office
The number of employees who are back in the office has been inching up since vaccines began rolling out in the U.S. but only 31% of office workers had returned to the workspaces they occupied before the Covid-19 pandemic.