daniel h. lesser
Q1 2024 Major U.S. Hotel Sales Survey
Daniel Lesser | May 2, 2024
By Daniel H. Lesser While the U.S. economy continues to expand and is currently a major driver of global growth, inflation has recently ticked up after falling considerably from a peak of 9.1% nearly two years ago. Many now perceive that in the near term, the U.S. Federal Reserve will not reduce borrowing costs, and some anticipate a resumption of raising rates by early 2025. Unless a severe economic downturn occurs, interest rates are likely to remain relatively elevated for an extended period. A tight labor market and strong household net worth have led to remarkable resilience in U.S. consumer spending as Americans continue to enjoy...
Q4 2023 Major U.S. Hotel Sales Survey
Daniel Lesser | February 7, 2024
At the dawn of 2024, a U.S. presidential election looms amidst numerous geopolitical challenges including two major ongoing wars in Europe and the Middle East which threaten global economic growth. The good news is, thus far it appears the U.S. economy has avoided recession with many now perceiving continued growth, albeit subdued. Inflation has cooled, the economy continues to add jobs, interest rates appear to have peaked and are anticipated to gradually decline for the next two years. Furthermore, a roaring stock market continues to fuel American consumer expenditures resulting in strong demand for travel including lodging. Despite a re...
Q3 2023 Major U.S. Hotel Sales Survey
Daniel Lesser | October 26, 2023
By Daniel Lesser Notwithstanding a persistent jittery economic environment and rising global geopolitical concerns, market conditions in the U.S. appear simultaneously shaky and resilient. National lodging sector metrics, particularly average room rates and RevPAR, continue to achieve exceptional results as demand for travel and lodging remains robust. Although overall leisure patronage is trailing off from pandemic highs, due in part to Americans opting for international travel, domestic corporate individual and group meeting business continues to rebound to pre Covid-19 levels. Additionally, inbound international travel to the U.S. conti...
Q2 2023 Major U.S. Hotel Sales Survey
Daniel Lesser | July 20, 2023
By Daniel Lesser Defying the expectations of many, the U.S. economy has demonstrated resilience driven in part by a solid employment report with stronger-than-expected wage growth during June, along with continued healthy levels of consumer spending. With this said, the U.S. economy has been slowed by the Federal Reserve’s aggressive drive to tame inflation through a series of interest rate hikes that began early last year. Although trending downward, with inflation remaining above its two percent target, the Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates again this month and mull another hike as soon as September. Despite elevate...
Q1 2022 Major U.S. Hotel Sales Survey
Daniel Lesser | April 20, 2022
By Daniel Lesser As the world was emerging from a once in century pandemic, global and national events during the first three months of 2022 have resulted in a transformative quarter unlike any for nearly 80 years. During the nuclear superpower age, the notion of an unprovoked brutal attack and invasion of a sovereign state was the stuff of fiction. "Never again" is a phrase associated with the Holocaust, the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Unfortunately, the phrase is merely two words as history is currently repeating itself in Eastern Europe. As of the end of Q1 2022, skyrocketing energy and food costs have greatly ...
How Hotels Are Faring in Transformative Times
Daniel Lesser | January 20, 2021
By Daniel H. Lesser We live in extraordinary times. There are only a limited number of periods in America’s 245-year history which have been as transformative as 2020 (i.e., 1776, 1865, 1929, 1945, 1968, 2001). The confluence of a global pandemic, mass civil disobedience, and the transfer of power will undoubtedly affect how we live and work in 2021 and beyond. The COVID-19 pandemic that commenced in early 2020 represents yet another demarcation in life “before” and “after.” 2020 began as geopolitical tensions spiked on January 3rd, and the U.S. stood at the brink of war when an American drone strike near the Baghdad Inter...
How Hotel Sales Performed in Q3
Daniel H. Lesser | October 29, 2020
Long term opportunistic investors that bet big, at the right basis, and early in the cycle will likely reap tremendous financial rewards. By Daniel H. Lesser Today’s global travel sector, which many characterize as being “on the brink of collapse,” is simply unprecedented. Seven months into a 100-year worldwide pandemic which caused a swift, wide, and deep economic recession has decimated key travel and leisure related industries including airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, ridesharing, and tour operators. While stock markets have rebounded to near record levels, the US lodging industry continues to experience crippling stress...
Q1 2019 U.S. Lodging Market Update
Daniel Lesser | April 24, 2019
By Daniel H. Lesser While the longer economic growth endures, intuitively the risk of recession rises. Despite GDP indicative of a slowing economy during Q4 2019, the U.S. economic expansion which commenced in June 2009, is soon approaching the longest post-World War II expansion with uninterrupted growth. Investors frequently ponder where we are in a cycle. Is the current economic climate most like 1995, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2008 or 2016? While history often rhymes, the reality is we are in 2019, which presents its own set of idiosyncratic risks and opportunities. Many economists have opined that expansions do not die of old age, rather t...
