In June, the average transaction price for a new vehicle was $39,942, an increase of 14% from June 2020. The average transaction price for a used vehicle was $27,984, up 24% from June 2020.

Blackstone will enter into a long-term agreement with AIG Life to manage an initial $50 billion in assets, with the amount increasing to nearly $100 billion over the next six years. The private-equity firm would also pay $2.2 billion for a 9.9% stake in AIG’s life-insurance and retirement-services unit.

U.S. consumer prices continued to accelerate in June at the fastest pace in 13 years as the recovery from the pandemic gained steam. The consumer-price index increased 5.4% in June from a year earlier. Excluding volatile food and energy categories, prices rose 4.5% from a year earlier, the most in 30 years.

The share of U.S. restaurant and hotel workers leaving their jobs hit a two-decade high in May at 5.7%. Though the latest jobs report shows restaurants and bars added 194,000 jobs in June, employment at such establishments remains down by 1.3 million jobs since the pandemic began.

MGM Resorts entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Infinity World Development’s 50% interest in the massive mixed-used CityCenter complex for $2.1 billion, a price that represents an implied valuation of $5.8 billion based on net debt of $1.5 billion. MGM Resorts then plans to sell the properties to affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust for $3.89 billion in cash, which represents a multiple of 18.1 times rent. Following the acquisition, both properties are to be leased back to MGM Resorts for initial annual rent of $215 million.

The Baird-STR Hotel Stock Index declined by 3% in June, underperforming both the S&P 500 and RMZ indexes, which were both up 2.2% for the month.

Lenders originated some three million auto loans and leases in March, up about 53% from the same month in 2020 and the highest monthly figure on record. Auto balances for new originations also hit a record of $73.6 billion in March, up 59% from a year prior.

A recent survey U.S. individual investors found these people expect to earn 17.3% this year, after inflation. That’s more than twice the return on U.S. stocks since 1926, which has averaged 7.1% annually after inflation.

As of June 30, total returns from self-storage real-estate investment trusts reached 36%, outpacing other REIT sectors except shopping center and mall landlords. Over the same period, the FTSE Nareit Equity REITs Index gained 22% and the S&P 500 climbed 15%.

Worker filings for jobless claims fell to 364,000 last week, reaching a new pandemic low as layoffs continue to recede.