After 2020 saw US-domiciled ETFs gain $476 billion in net flows (inflows less outflows)—which broke the annual record of $470 billion set in 2017—they accumulated nearly $248 billion in Q1 this year.
Cruises
Cruise operators could restart sailings out of the U.S. by mid-July, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, paving the way to resume operations that have been suspended for longer than a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Consumer Confidence
The consumer confidence index increased to 121.7 in April from a revised 109.0 in March. Recent improvements led the index to a more than one-year high, with the indicator approaching the pre-pandemic level of 132.6 in February 2020.
Return to Malls
Foot traffic at a representative sample of 50 malls in March was up 86% from the same month last year. While that foot traffic was 24% lower than in March 2019, mall owners are hopeful that their business has turned a corner.
Median Rents
Median asking rent rose 1.1% on an annual basis in March to $1,463 a month across the country’s 50 largest markets. That marked the first month where the pace of rent growth had increased since last summer.
Labor Hours
Pre-pandemic, the average hotel logged a little over two hours of labor for every occupied room, but that's dropped to 1.5 hours over the course of the pandemic in part because housekeepers aren't going into rooms each day and reduced food and beverage service.
SmartRent
SmartRent.com Inc., which sells smart home-technology systems to apartment-building owners and developers, intends to go public through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company that values the property-tech startup at $2.2 billion.
Startup Funding
In the first quarter this year, U.S. startups raised $69 billion from investors—41% more than the previous record, set in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Mack Forecloses
Mack Real Estate Group has taken over control of seven limited- and full-service hotels totaling 1,087 rooms in New York City through a loan foreclosure. A Mack affiliate provided an $85 million mezzanine loan while the value of the ownership transfer was listed at $315.8 million.
Kimco Weingarten
Kimco Realty Corp. has agreed to acquire fellow grocery-anchored shopping-center owner Weingarten Realty Investors for nearly $3.9 billion in cash and stock.