Office Demand Sees Biggest Rebound Since Pandemic.
• The ”Office Demand Index (ODI)”—which tracks new in-person and virtual office tours—reached 79 points in the first quarter.
This is an 18% increase from the previous quarter and a 13% increase compared to the same period last year,
marking the highest level since the pandemic began – Impacted by AI, Finance, and Culture Industry Booms.
• San Francisco & New York: Led the national increase in demand.
San Francisco was bolstered by growth in AI-related tech hiring, while New York’s demand was driven by its diverse industrial base.
• Los Angeles: Recorded double-digit demand growth this quarter, fueled by the arts and culture industries.
The LA office demand index reached 72 points, its highest since Q2 2024, though still lower than pre-pandemic averages.
• Boston: Emerged as the weakest market in this report.
This is attributed to a significant contraction in office demand within
the life sciences sector following a reduction in government support.
• Other Cities: Seattle, Washington D.C., and Chicago also
saw declining demand due to slowing employment growth.
AI Startups Fuel Manhattan Office Boom
• Cash-rich AI startups are fueling a new boom in Manhattan’s commercial real-estate market.
In 2025, AI companies signed leases for more than 845,000 square feet, according to JLL.
This year, they are leasing at nearly double that rate, securing more than 414,000 square feet in the first quarter.
• But on any given day, many of these offices boast more vacant desks than workers.
Benjamin Bass, vice chairman of New York brokerage at JLL,
said he has recently started to see AI firms leasing spaces 60% larger than their current head count requires.
• As the AI firms see it, they will have plenty of time and opportunity to staff up.
The more pressing concern is to secure the coolest high-end office spaces in the most desirable downtown Manhattan neighborhoods,
from SoHo to the Flatiron District and NoMad.
• That hasn’t discouraged many New York landlords from betting that these AI startups will grow,
in head count and in revenue, said JLL’s Bass.
Foreclosures Hit Six-Year High as Costs Keep Rising.
• U.S. foreclosure filings hit a six-year high in the first quarter. Fast-rising homeownership costs such as property tax and insurance bills are a reason to blame.
• The number of U.S. properties with a foreclosure filing rose to almost 119,000 in the first quarter, according to property-data provider Attom.
That marked a 26% jump from the same period a year earlier.
• The current foreclosure rate is a return to the prepandemic norm and not a sign of widespread borrower distress, analysts say.
Many homeowners have low mortgage rates and have benefited from home-price appreciation in recent years.
• But the recent increase is an indication that more people are struggling, especially when rising costs for home insurance,
property taxes or homeowners association dues push up their monthly bills.
• Foreclosure-related legal requests rose 20% year-over-year in March.
WSJ 5/4/26Global Economy Powers Ahead Despite Growing Energy Shock.
• One of the major surprises about the gravest energy shock since the 1970s is how resilient much of the world has been.
• The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has yanked around 13 million barrels of oil a day from global energy supplies.
Blackouts have hit Pakistan, the Philippines has imposed a four-day workweek,
and countries including Slovenia and Bangladesh have rationed fuel. The risk that the world sinks into recession is rising with each day the waterway remains shut.
The price of Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, has risen more than 50% since the strait was closed.
• Even so, in the two months since the strait was closed by Iran in response to U.S. and Israeli attacks,
many of the world’s major economies have been soldiering on in contrast to the swift downturns that accompanied similar energy crises in the 1970s and 1990s.
Stock markets are touching records.
• This resilience reflects ample energy reserves, policies to help consumers,
and the offsetting effects of the AI boom
that is powering trade and business investment in the U.S. and beyond.
Robotaxi Industry Takes Off Across the U.S.
• After nearly a decadelong cycle of hype, disappointment and then renewed hype,
self-driving taxis are starting to roll onto streets in a rapidly growing number of cities across the U.S.
• In 2023, during the first month of offering paid rides in San Francisco, Waymo vehicles made 10,000 trips a week.
In March, Waymo said its fleet of vehicles had made 500,000 trips a week.
• Currently, the company is only offering paid rides in Texas.
Musk says the company is being cautious with the rollout of the service out of safety concerns.
The Tesla chief said the company aims to expand to at least a dozen states this year.
• Zoox was founded in 2014, one of several self-driving startups founded around the same time.
Amazon.com acquired the company in 2020 for around $1.2 billion, after Zoox struggled to raise funds.
March PCE Price Index 3.5% ↑
• The Department of Commerce announced on the 30th that
the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index for March rose 3.5% compared to the same month last year.
This is the largest increase in 2 years and 10 months,
since May 2023. Compared to the previous month, it rose 0.7%,
recording the largest increase since June 2022. Both year-on-year and month-on-month
figures were in line with expert forecasts compiled by Dow Jones.
• The PCE Price Index is a measure of inflation that reflects the prices of goods and services consumed by households.
The Federal Reserve (Fed) uses this as a primary benchmark to determine whether it is achieving its monetary policy goal of a 2% inflation rate.
• As the inflation trend continues to exceed the target,
there are growing predictions that the timing of the Fed’s interest rate cuts may be delayed.
A key variable for future monetary policy will be how much the rising energy
Join The Discussion