Starts for multifamily housing surged recently, but the volume of building permits slowed. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s monthly report, the annual rate for total residential starts increased 12.2% from July to 1.575 million units. The bulk of that increase in starts was on the multifamily side, which surged 28.6% for the month to an annual rate of 621,000 units. Single-family starts increased a moderate 3.4% to 935,000 units, but remain below the one million level maintained from August 2020 through June 2022.
Advertisers build their strategies based on current events. When online gaming grew in popularity during the pandemic, some advertisers allocated more of their budget to YouTube’s gaming channels. The rising cost of buying cars led advertisers for new and used dealerships to do the opposite. Advertisers for firearms and accessories companies are no different. Given the divisive nature of their products, however, these advertisers walk on a thinner sheet of ice. What does firearms advertising look like in 2022? Have the headlines and a push for gun reform impacted spending? We looked at our data to find out.
The Summer of 2022 has been punctuated by the escalating cost-of-living crisis which led to a variety of appeals for higher pay. Commuters suffered from the disruption of nine days of national train strikes between June and August. These strikes followed a pandemic that transformed how commuters use public transport, with many now preferring the flexibility of hybrid working. So, how much impact did these strikes actually have? We turned to our real time consumer spending data to run some analysis on the decline in passenger transactions over the period and to look at the wider impact of the strikes on the high street.
iPhone 14 series pre-order and preliminary sales showed: 1) similar performance as iPhone 13 series with slight year-over-year decline; 2) standard models have seen significant decline while Pro series achieved sizable year-over-year growth. iPhone 14 Pre-Order Performance (7-day pre-order sales during September 9-15) Sandalwood e-commerce data showed 7% y/y sales volume growth for iPhone 14 series on Tmall compared to iPhone 13 series during the 7-day pre-order period. Sales value also grew 17% y/y.
Few things are as iconic as the American diner, serving up plates of pancakes and eggs. Over the past few decades, this dining concept has evolved from local stand-alone establishments to regional and national chains. Inflation and other macro headwinds have put pressure on restaurant visitation trends the past several months, but full-service breakfast chains have outperformed the industry. We catch up with several breakfast and brunch restaurant leaders and take a look at how they are positioning themselves as an affordable luxury and leveraging their knowledge of their customer base to succeed.
Three pieces of good news broke in Asia last week that, although not providing an immediate impact on global airline capacity, will in the coming weeks help several airlines and airports in the region rebuild capacity. Of course, pressure will be building for China to relax its travel restrictions as Japan removes visa requirements, Hong Kong ended mandatory Covid-19 hotel quarantine for international arrivals, and Chinese Taipei relaxes regulations. This has to be a good news week in Asia.
In this alternative review of the summer 2022 travel season, Juan A. Gomez, Head of Market Intelligence at ForwardKeys, poses the question, “How would European travel recovery have evolved without the airport chaos and flight cancellations?” Following some setbacks at the beginning of the year – namely the emergence of the Omicron Covid variant and the escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian war – travel recovery in Europe appeared to be firmly on the right track heading into summer.
One emerging use case for Consumer Edge data is better understanding real estate investments, both for real estate investors and for companies looking at the best other tenants to position themselves with. In today’s Insight Flash, we illustrate how either of these groups would think about a potential location strategy based on which subindustries are growing fastest locally, which other tenants are most likely to be cross-shopped, and which businesses are retaining their in-store appeal.
The rental market of 2022 looks nothing like 2021. With 2022’s 3rd quarter almost in the books, a number of indicators suggest the once blazing-hot rental housing market is cooling off dramatically. RealPage [Market Analytics](https://www.realpage.com/asset-optimization/market-analytics/) will be releasing September data next week, but preliminary results suggest apartment demand has cratered from 2021’s all-time highs due to what appears to be an abrupt halt in household formation.
Miami’s tourism sector has been on a serious upswing for the past few years. The city, and wider state of Florida, saw higher-than-nationwide average visits throughout the course of the pandemic. Driven in part by loose COVID restrictions, tourism was up nearly every quarter since the pandemic began, and these trends are only accelerating now that international travel is returning and airport staffing challenges slow down.
The recent wave of climate action plans, including the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and California’s ban on gas-powered cars, is likely to accelerate the automotive industry’s transition to electric vehicles (EVs). This week, we take a look at current trends in EV engineering jobs to better understand traditional automakers’ green transition. The job postings of traditional car manufacturers for engineers reveal that the demand for positions with specialization in electric vehicles has increased considerably.
Citi Trends is a rising star in the off-price retail sector and has big plans for expansion and remodeling. We dove into the foot traffic data to analyze Citi Trends’ visit growth and see how the chain stacks up against other top retailers in the off-price space. Citi Trends owes much of its success to an aggressive expansion and remodeling strategy. According to CEO David Makuen, the remodels – dubbed CTx – highlight curated product assortments and enhance the customer experience. In 2021 the chain opened 27 new stores and remodeled 25 others.
After the hiatus of the past couple of years, OAG Megahubs is back! In a marked change from 2019, Megahubs 2022 demonstrates that, at least for the moment, US airports are the most internationally connected airports in the world. Thirteen of the Top 20 most internationally connected airports are in the USA with Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) topping the table. On the busiest day in 2022, there were 43,350 possible international connections at ORD within a six-hour window. The airport has airline services to 66 international destinations and, combined with the extensive domestic network available at the airport, makes for a winning hub operation.
Spicy and numbing broth, smooth yet chewy rice noodles, affordable menu prices, and waitresses known as “TamJai Jeh Jeh” with distinctive accents… With all these features, TamJai noodle chains are rapidly taking over every district in Hong Kong. Tam Jai International (HKEX: 2217), which runs TamJai Yunnan Mixian (譚仔雲南米線) (“TamJai”) and TamJai SamGor Mixian (譚仔三哥米線) (“SamGor”), is now wholly owned by Japan’s largest restaurant operator Toridoll Holdings Corporation(TSE: 3397).Apart from serving Yunnan-style rice noodles in Hong Kong, Tam Jai International also expanded its restaurants in Mainland China, Singapore, and Japan.
Welcome to the October 2022 Apartment List National Rent Report. Our national index fell by 0.2 percent over the course of September, marking the first time this year that the national median rent has declined month-over-month. The timing of this slight dip in rents is consistent with a seasonal trend that was typical in pre-pandemic years. Assuming that trend continues, it is likely that rents will continue falling in the coming months as we enter the winter slow season for the rental market.
For this edition of STR’s U.S. “bubble” chart update, we returned the focus to revenue per available room (RevPAR), a core indicator of the general financial health of hotel markets. For the four weeks ending 10 September, there was an expected seasonal softening from the mid-summer travel peak. In fact, only six of the 165 STR-defined U.S. markets saw month-over-month RevPAR increases for the period, which included the Labor Day holiday. That holiday typically produces major decreases in industry demand—especially weekday business travel—as well as marks an informal end to summer travel.
Starbucks, the most prolific coffee chain in the country, recently unveiled a dramatic expansion plan. The chain hopes to not only add 2,000 stores to its nearly 16,000-strong fleet by 2025 but to also new implement new strategies in a bid to maximize sales and customer reach by embracing technology. We dove into the foot traffic data for the coffee giant to understand what lies behind this decision and whether the opportunity is really there.
The Basic Materials Industry includes Chemicals, Metals, Mining, Forestry and Paper. Output prices for these sectors have been very volatile in the past 12 months, reflecting recent rapid structural changes in the global economy. Metals for steel and alloy production – Aluminium, Iron Ore, Lead, Zinc, Manganese, Molybdenum and Tellurium are mainly down. Rare earths used in mobile phones, EVs, batteries, catalytic convertors, and flat screens – such as Rhodium, Titanium, Lithium, Palladium, Neodynium – are higher, with Lithium up over 200% YoY. Mined fuels such as Coal are up nearly 150% over the past 12 months in response to the Ukraine war.
As anticipated, U.S. hotel demand for the week of 11-17 September 2022 soared back, increasing 13% week on week (WoW) and pushing occupancy to a six-week high of 69.6%. Weekday (Monday-Wednesday) occupancy was slightly better at 69.9%, with the measure reaching 75.5% in the Top 25 Markets—the second highest level of the pandemic-era behind the week ending 18 June 2022. Nominal average daily rate (ADR) made its way to a seven-week high (US$156), up 5.8% WoW and +18% year on year.
Here’s one of the most widely misunderstood realities of rental affordability: The renters seeing the largest rent hikes are upper-income households in the most expensive rentals, and despite larger rent increases, they’re least likely to miss a rent payment. On the flip side, rent payments have fallen the most in subsidized affordable housing – where rents have grown the least, since those rents are typically set to a share of income.
