In 2023, ETFs gathered nearly $600 billion in net flows. While that’s less than some previous years, including 2021’s nearly $1 trillion record haul, it still shows the massive, sustained momentum behind ETFs.
BLK Infrastructure
BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, announced it is buying Global Infrastructure Partners for about $12 billion in cash and stock. The acquisition is part of the firm’s increased focus on infrastructure.
Rent Inflation
Rent inflation for studios to two-bedrooms in the top 50 metros declined for seven consecutive months, with the national median asking price falling to $1,717.
PE Insurance Cos
Private-equity investment has dramatically changed the life insurance and annuity business over the past decade. By 2022, buyout firms owned 137 U.S. insurance companies with $534 billion in assets, about 6.5% of the entire U.S. market, up from 90 insurers and $314 billion in 2018, around 4.8% of the market.
Retail Sales
U.S. retail sales rose 3.1% from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24, reflecting a year marked by rising prices. After a busy Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend, many consumers waited for the last minute to shop, with Saturday, Dec. 23, the biggest sales day of the year—topping Black Friday.
Office Vacancy
A staggering 19.6% of office space in major U.S. cities wasn’t leased as of the fourth quarter, up from 18.8% a year earlier. That is slightly above the previous records of 19.3% set in 1986 and 1991 and the highest number since at least 1979.
Mortgage Spread
The 30-year mortgage rate has fallen by more than a percentage point recently to 6.62%. The shrinking spread between that and the 10-year Treasury yield amounts to roughly one-sixth of the decline.
GM
General Motors just had its best year for vehicle sales since 2019. The automaker reported that it sold 2.6 million vehicles in 2023 — good for a 14.1% increase over 2022.
Single Family Home Rentals
During the third quarter of 2023, big landlords that own anywhere from 100 to more than 1,000 housing units purchased just 1% of all the homes sold in the U.S. This is down from roughly 3% throughout 2022. America’s rental market remains dominated by mom-and-pop landlords, who buy nearly one-in-five of all the U.S. family homes that come up for sale.
Apartment Rent
Rents for new leases rose more than 20% during two years spanning 2021 and 2022. That growth moderated last year as rents either barely rose or slightly declined with real-estate firms projecting total rent growth in the very low single digits this year.