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1. US Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady
The U.S. Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged in its first meeting of the year after three straight reductions, CoStar News' Dani Romero reports.
Real estate experts believe the volatility of interest rates is likely to be over for the time being.
"While rate reductions are always constructive, the series of cuts in late 2025 has already helped reenergize the real estate cycle, supporting higher valuations and increased transaction volume," Allan Swaringen, managing director at LaSalle Investment Management and president and CEO of JLL Income Property Trust, said in a statement.
2. US government prepares to sell Old Post Office in DC
The Trump administration is moving toward selling the Old Post Office in Washington, D.C., to the bank that controls the lease, the Washington Post reports. The General Services Administration owns the historic property, built in 1899.
The property underwent an extensive renovation in 2012 after the Trump Hotel Collection scored the branding rights. It shifted to the Waldorf Astoria brand in 2022.
Hilton, owners of the Waldorf Astoria brand, has a long-term agreement in place to manage the hotel, and the newspaper reports the brand would remain in place if a sale were to take place. Lease holder BDT & MSD Partners has first rights to buy the building, but the company has yet to comment on its intentions.
"The effort to shed the Old Post Office comes as the Trump administration looks to off-load properties it has deemed no longer essential — a nationwide endeavor with particular resonance in D.C. given the vast federal footprint," the Post reports.
3. Cost pressures to cut into hotel profitability
Hotel rates will continue to grow in 2026, but so will pressures on profitability, industry forecasters said during a panel at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles, CoStar News' Bryan Wroten reports.
The full-year 2026 forecast from STR and Tourism Economics projects U.S. hotel revenue-per-available-room growth of 0.6%, driven by a 1% increase in average daily rate. Inflation, however, is expected to outpace those values at 2.4%.
“It’s going to be pressures on the margins, as we’ve seen in the past year, year and a half, because we’re not seeing that rate growth,” said Isaac Collazo, senior director of analytics at STR.
4. China to allow visa-free travel for British citizens
China has agreed to allow British citizens to travel to the country visa-free for up to 30 days, the BBC reports. When this will officially go into effect is still to be determined.
The agreement was reached following a meeting between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Starmer was the first British leader to visit China in eight years, the news outlet reports.
"As one of the world's economic powerhouses, businesses have been crying out for ways to grow their footprints in China," he said. "We'll make it easier for them to do so — including via relaxed visa rules for short-term travel — supporting them to expand abroad, all while boosting growth and jobs at home."
5. US companies cut jobs from post-pandemic hiring spree
Big U.S. companies such as Amazon and UPS are slashing jobs after years of rapid growth in that area immediately following the pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“This is still about the overhiring or hiring boom that happened in that immediate post-pandemic era,” said Laura Ullrich, director of economic research at jobs-platform Indeed.
Last week, unemployment claims in the U.S. decreased slightly over the previous week's figures, the Associated Press reports. Applications for jobless aid fell by 1,000 to 209,000 for the week ending Jan. 24, a touch higher than the 205,000 projected by data firm FactSet.