In July, President Biden called on Congress to pass national rent control that would force corporate landlords to cap their rent increases at 5% or else forfeit their federal tax breaks. Capitol Hill didn’t adopt that proposal but local jurisdictions continue to experiment with rent control as voters demand lower housing costs.

Average 30-year mortgages have climbed to around 6.7% from roughly 6.1% since the Fed started lowering rates in September and are only poised to rise further as the yield on the 10-year Treasurys continue to rise.

Blackstone has marked its most active year in Japan, with about $7.7 billion in transactions across its real estate and private equity business in the country.

Even though foot traffic is still below prepandemic levels, retailers are leasing more space at outlet shopping centers, where designers sell heavily discounted surplus or lower-quality items.

Marriott International announced deals with two hospitality brands whose focus is on outdoor-centric accommodations. In doing so, Marriott said it would be launching an outdoor collection next year that is expected to be conversion friendly. The deals include the acquisition of the Postcard Cabins brand, formerly known as Getaway House and the execution of a long-term agreement with Trailborn.

Labor markets remain in a delicate equilibrium. Hiring rates are low, but so are layoffs. The economy has added more than 140,000 jobs on average over the six months through November. But the unemployment rate has drifted up to 4.2%, from 3.7% at the beginning of the year.

Blackstone has entered into definitive agreements to acquire Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho, an acclaimed 2.4 million square feet of mixed-use asset, from affiliates of Seibu Holdings. At $2.6 billion, this marks the largest real estate investment by a foreign investor in Japan and the firm’s largest investment to date across businesses in the market.

Prices for groceries were up 1.6% from a year earlier in November. But they were up 27% from February 2020.

The small-business optimism index jumped in November to its highest reading since June 2021 and the index measuring company plans for capital investment, hiring and sales, rose to the highest level in more than two years in the fourth quarter.

From 2021 to 2023, the share of build-to-rent housing starts doubled to 10% of overall single-family housing.