Home-price growth held at a record high in August, as demand from home buyers remained robust despite skyrocketing prices. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, which measures average home prices in major metropolitan areas across the nation, rose 19.8% in the year that ended in August.
Modern Land (China), Co. a 21-year-old developer that focuses on green projects, failed to repay a $250 million dollar bond that matured Monday, adding to a string of missed payments by Chinese real-estate companies.
Federal Reserve officials are set to wind down their $120 billion-a-month bond-purchase program in November.
China Evergrande Group made an overdue interest payment of $83.5 million to international bondholders in an unexpected move that allows the property company to stave off a default on about $2.03 billion of dollar bonds.
The American Hotel and Lodging Association estimates the industry lost $49 billion in business-travel revenue in 2020 compared with 2019. It’s also on pace to finish with $10 billion less in business-travel revenue this year compared with 2020.
Credit-card spending at restaurants and retailers excluding gasoline stations rose 1.5% between August and September. In particular, spending at restaurants and bars rose 2.3%, the data showed, suggesting that customers didn’t let the Delta variant hold them back.
Eviction filings in court were up 8.7% in September from August. But the rate is still low on a historic basis, and, at 36,796 filings, it is roughly half the average September rate pre-pandemic.
The number of workers returning to traditional office space has been edging higher since the week of Labor Day, when an average of 31% of the workforce was back in 10 major cities. The average hit 36% during the week that ended Oct. 8, a new high during the pandemic period.
