S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of real estate news stories published throughout the week.
On the back of higher business travel and increased leisure travel driven by the recent solar eclipse, US hotel demand climbed 1.3% year over year in the second quarter, real estate service company CBRE said in a report.
Occupancy grew 2.2% year over year in the second quarter, though rates for all location types were still below 2019 levels. Occupancy rates at interstate and town locations were at 99%, close to pre-pandemic levels, while urban and resort locations were at 94% and 96%, respectively.
Second-quarter revenue per available room (RevPAR) was up 2.2% annually amid higher occupancy and a 1.5% increase in average daily rate (ADR).
Cleveland recorded the biggest year-over-year jump in RevPAR at 18%, followed by Indianapolis at 17%. The cities received many visitors in April, given their proximity to the path of the total solar eclipse.
CHART OF THE WEEK: US home price growth decelerates in May
⮞ The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller US National Home Price NSA Index grew 5.9% year over year in May, decelerating from a 6.4% annual gain in April.
⮞ New York recorded the highest annual home price gain among the top 20 cities, at 9.4%, while San Diego came second at 9.1%.
⮞ On a monthly basis, the US National Index grew 0.3% in May after seasonal adjustment.
In the works
– Diversified real estate company Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. set up a special board committee to study a potential acquisition by Pershing Square Capital Management LP, its largest shareholder. Pershing Square disclosed in an Aug. 7 filing that it is evaluating various alternatives regarding its investment in the company.
– Equity Residential agreed to acquire an apartment portfolio from various strategies of Blackstone Inc. unit Blackstone Real Estate Advisors LP, including Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc., Blackstone Real Estate Partners and Blackstone Property Partners, for about $964 million. The portfolio contains 3,572 units across 11 apartment properties Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth and Denver. The properties will be acquired in separate transactions expected to close in the third quarter.
– A street retail joint venture of Vornado Realty Trust is selling a portion of Uniqlo's 90,732-square-foot US flagship store at 666 Fifth Ave. in Manhattan, NY, to the Japanese clothing brand's operator, Fast Retailing Co. Ltd., for $350 million. The venture will still own the space leased to Abercrombie & Fitch Co. and Tissot.
– BDT & MSD Partners LLC placed the lone bid worth $100 million to acquire the Waldorf Astoria Washington, DC, hotel at 1100 Pennsylvania Ave. NW in Washington, DC, at a foreclosure auction, Commercial Observer reported. The bidder is the debt holder on a leasehold interest in the property, according to the report.
US hotel performance
US hotels posted gains across three key performance metrics in the week ended Aug. 3, STR reported, citing data from CoStar, which provides information and analytics on property markets.
Occupancy closed at 69.4%, up 0.8% from the comparable week in 2023. ADR inched 0.6% higher to $159.63 and RevPAR was 1.3% higher at $110.84.
Occupancy and RevPAR gains were the highest in Houston among the top 25 markets. Houston and Philadelphia had the largest increase in ADR.
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