WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) reported that 86.2 percent of apartment households paid September rent as of Sept. 13. NMHC surveyed its network of 11.4 million professionally managed units as part of its Rent Payment Tracker metric. The number of households paying rent this month compares similarly to Aug. 13, when 86.9 percent of renters made a full or partial payment. September’s tally, though, is behind Sept. 13, 2019, when 88.6 percent of renters made payments. “While it remains clear that many apartment residents continue to prioritize their housing obligations and that apartment owners and operators remain committed to meeting them halfway with creative and nuanced approaches, the reality is that the second week of September figures shows ongoing deterioration of rent payment figures, representing hundreds of thousands of households who are increasingly at risk,” says Doug Bibby, president of NMHC. On Sept. 1, the Trump Administration, with the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), issued an executive order halting evictions through the end of 2020. The NMHC released a statement expressing its “disappointment” in the order. NMHC releases the survey with the help of partners RealPage, ResMan, Yardi, Entrata and MRI …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Commerce Department reported in its advanced estimate Wednesday morning that retail spending rose 0.6 percent on a month-over-month basis in August. Total sales for the month were $537.5 billion, up from $534.6 billion in July. This marks the fourth straight month retail sales rose since April, when sales plummeted 16.4 percent due to the coronavirus pandemic shutting down the U.S. economy in mid-March. The National Retail Federation (NRF) said it expected August numbers to slow due to federal assistance waning at the end of July, but the Washington, D.C.-based organization believes consumers are “in good shape” heading into the holiday season. “Over the past several months, consumers have responded well to federal relief measures that have supported the recovery, so it comes as no surprise that they would take a pause on spending as some of these programs tapered off at the end of July,” says Matthew Shay, CEO and president of the NRF. “We continue to advocate for additional stimulus measures to help the economy recover. With the holidays quickly approaching, our retailers are prepared to serve customers to meet all of their holiday needs and are embracing the new holiday tradition of shopping …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Retail Federation (NRF) has reported that retailers unexpectedly increased imports for the holiday season, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker, which is released by the NRF and Hackett Associates. The expected twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) for the period between July and October is now just shy of 7.6 million, which would make 2020 the third-highest holiday “peak season” on record, the Washington, D.C.-based organization said. “It’s important to be careful how much to read into these numbers after all we’ve seen this year, but retailers are importing far more merchandise for the holidays than we expected even a month ago,” says Jonathan Gold, NRF’s vice president for supply chain and customs policy. “Some of these imports are helping replenish inventories that started to run low after consumers unleashed pent-up demand when stores reopened. But this is the clearest sign yet that we could be in for a much happier holiday season than many had thought.” The most recent numbers available for the Global Port Tracker is from July, when retailers imported 1.9 million TEUs, beating the forecast of just under 1.8 million.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — First-time unemployment claims for the week ending Sept. 5 reached 884,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday morning. For the week ending Aug. 29, unemployment claims totaled 881,000. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected the weekly total to come in at 850,000, reflecting a downward trend from the previous week. The two previous weeks mark the first time since mid-March that unemployment claims have been fewer than 1 million in back-to-back weeks. Continuing claims — for which data is a week behind — ticked up to 13.8 million for the week ending Sept. 3, 93,000 higher than the week ending Aug. 29.
Multifamily landlords have largely been able to collect rent through the coronavirus pandemic due to government assistance for those who are unemployed, a report from Marcus & Millichap has found. However, the federal funding of $600 per week for unemployed citizens expired at the end of July, leaving uncertainty surrounding rent collections moving into the third quarter. On Thursday, Sept. 3, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that 881,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits for the week ending Aug. 29. Continuing claims, for which data is a week behind, totaled 13.3 million for the week ending Aug. 22. On Tuesday, Sept. 1, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and the Trump Administration halted evictions through the end of the year. Prior to the eviction moratorium, fundamentals in the second quarter were sliding. The nationwide vacancy rate rose 30 basis points to 4.7 percent in the second quarter. Irvine, California-based Marcus & Millichap expects vacancy to continue upward through the end of the year as COVID-19 keeps the jobless rate at historic highs. States are offering unemployment assistance, which could prove more valuable with the absence of federal unemployment funding. Each state, though, offers different benefits, making it harder …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy added nearly 1.4 million jobs in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. The most recent figure was on par with economists’ expectations, with The Wall Street Journal reporting an expected gain of just over 1.3 million. The unemployment rate dropped from 10.2 percent to 8.4 percent. Employment swelled in the government sector, which added 344,000 jobs in August, though 238,000 of the jobs are temporary 2020 Census workers. The retail sector added 249,000 jobs, continuing its climb back to pre-pandemic levels. The sector, which encompasses general merchandise stores, motor vehicle and parts dealers, electronics and appliance stores and miscellaneous store retailers, is still 665,000 jobs below the February total. Leisure and hospitality gained 174,000 jobs while education and healthcare services added 147,000 jobs. In August, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 11 cents to $29.47. The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 34.6 hours in August. The BLS revised its June gains down by 10,000 jobs to just under 4.8 million. July was revised down by 29,000 jobs to just over 1.7 million.
MICHIGAN — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed an executive order enabling the state’s gyms and pools to reopen beginning Wednesday, Sept. 9. Gyms must require mask wearing at all times, implement six-foot social distancing and provide cleaning products. The new order also allows organized sports practices and competitions to resume but does not include the reopening of movie theaters. Gym owners have lobbied the governor tirelessly for their reopening and have suffered crippling financial losses since mid-March, according to local media reports.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Initial unemployment claims dipped to 881,000 for the week ending Aug. 29, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. The most recent figure is a decrease of 130,000 claims from the previous week. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected 950,000 claims. The week ending Aug. 29 was also the first time since Aug. 8 that unemployment claims were below 1 million. The four-week moving average stood at 991,750 claims, a decrease from nearly 1.1 million the previous week. Continuing claims, for which data is week behind, totaled 13.3 million, a sharp decrease from the previous week’s total of 14.5 million. The Department of Labor implemented a new methodology for this week’s numbers, changing how it calculates for seasonally adjusted data. The previous methodology used seasonally adjustments to account for normal disruptions while the new criteria is tweaked for virus-related conditions.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) has issued a statement expressing its disappointment in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Trump Administration for ordering the temporary halt in residential evictions nationwide through the end of the year. “We are deeply disappointed that this moratorium is being enacted, particularly without the backup of a meaningful rental assistance program,” a statement from the Washington, D.C.-based organization read. The order, which was issued Tuesday, Sept. 1, applies to renters who make $99,000 or less per year or families making less than $198,000 per year. Additionally, to avoid eviction, renters must prove they are unable to pay rent due to COVID-19-related hardship and that being evicted would lead to them being homeless or living in close quarters with people from outside their household.
Commercial real estate lenders have remained timid as retail businesses in the Central Florida market navigate how to operate successfully during the COVID-19 crisis. As of this writing, Orange County had the 23rd most cases by county in the United States with 36,400 positive coronavirus cases and 378 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU). The metro Orlando county is currently in Phase II of the Sunshine State’s reopening plan, which includes allowing restaurants to bump up capacity from 50 percent in Phase I to now 75 percent; retailers can operate at full capacity; fitness centers can operate at 50 percent capacity; and bars can operate at 50 percent of standing room capacity. Phase II for most of the state’s counties went into effect June 5. While residents and businesses have begun the process of returning to pre-pandemic shopping norms, Chuck Whittall, president of Unicorp National Developments, said banks are still cautious. “There is a lot of fear on the credit side of the world,” said Whittall. “We experienced it after 9/11, in 2009 and we are experiencing it again now.” Orlando-based Unicorp broke ground last month on O-Town West, a $1 billion mixed-use development along Interstate 4 and three …