Thomas Pritzker, the billionaire scion to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, who has served as executive chairman of the company board since 2004, resigned from the role effective immediately over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Office Delinquency
The delinquency rate for office loans in commercial mortgage-backed securities climbed to a record 12.34% in January, the highest level since 2000.
Office CMBS
The delinquency rate for office loans in CMBS climbed to a record 12.34% in January, the highest level since at least 2000. More than half of the $100 billion of commercial real-estate loans packaged into securities and coming due this year are unlikely to repay at maturity.
Home Sales
Home sales fell 8.4% in January, the biggest monthly decline since February 2022, after snowstorms and low consumer confidence slowed a housing market that was showing signs of recovery. Sales of existing homes fell from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.91 million. The decline came after sales rose three of the previous four months.
Waldorf Astoria
The Chinese owners of the famed Waldorf Astoria in New York City are preparing to put the hotel up for sale, only months after it reopened following a multibillion-dollar, much-delayed overhaul. The Waldorf’s transformation was completed last year about five years behind schedule and more than $1 billion over budget. Developers and real-estate executives say it was likely the most expensive real estate conversion ever attempted in the U.S.
Jobs
The U.S. produced only 1.2 million jobs in 2024, versus the previously estimated 2 million. The labor market slowed even more to add just 181,000 jobs last year, versus the previously estimated 584,000.
Stock Wealth
Households’ stock wealth is now equal to almost 300% of their annual disposable income, compared with 200% in 2019.
Job Changes
The number of jobs people quit in December came to 3.2 million, well below the 4.5 million hit in March 2022. The quits rate, which measures quits as a share of employment, was 2%, well short of the 2.3% it averaged in 2019, before the pandemic.
Job Openings
U.S. job openings decreased by 386,000 roles in December, reaching their lowest level since September 2020.
Hotel Investments
U.S. Hotel investment in 2025 transaction volume climbed 17.5 percent year over year to reach $24 billion. The uptick in activity was driven by private equity activity and strengthening debt markets.