The U.S. hotel industry reported all-time lows in occupancy and revenue per available room in 2020 with year-over-year declines the worst on record across the three key performance metrics. Occupancy averaged 44 percent, down 33.3 percent from 2019; average daily rate was $103.25, down 21.3 percent; and revenue per available room was $45.48, down 47.5 percent.
The Fed estimates U.S. economic output will grow 4.2% in 2021 and the unemployment rate will drop to 5% by year’s end from 6.7% in December. It sees the jobless rate falling further to 4.2% by the end of 2022.
During the pandemic, the share of total apartment debt that banks place into their highest-risk categories has ballooned to 16.9% from 4.6%.
Latch Inc., a maker of smart locks and building-management software, plans to go public by merging with a special-purpose acquisition company. The merger will unite Latch with a SPAC sponsored by New York commercial real-estate firm Tishman Speyer Properties. The deal values Latch at $1.56 billion.
Thirty-seven CFOs stepped down from S&P 500 companies, up 27.6% from 2019. The figure for 2020 is higher than the average number of resignations over the past decade, which totaled about 25 a year.
The federal eviction moratorium will be extended to March 31, 2021. Mr. Biden is also asking the Department of Housing and Urban Development to consider extending the foreclosure moratorium and continuing forbearance applications for federally guaranteed mortgages. As of early January, an estimated 2.7 million mortgages are in forbearance according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
In a letter to the incoming administration, the American Hotel & Lodging Association wrote that hoteliers across the U.S. are offering up their properties as possible COVID-19 vaccination sites.
Airbnb announced that it will cancel reservations in the Washington, D.C., metro area during the week of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration and will also prevent any new reservations from being booked during that time.
Employers cut 140,000 jobs in December, the first decline since the pandemic hit the country last spring. Job cuts at restaurants and bars drove the drop, as many were forced to close or scale back operations during a nationwide surge in coronavirus cases.
