• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Why did a $154 billion CEO just endorse stripping most Americans of voting rights—and taking us back to the 19th century?

2

eBay will pay nearly $50 million after employees reportedly sent a Massachusetts couple a bloody pig mask, cockroaches and death threats

3

Current price of oil as of July 28, 2026

1

Why did a $154 billion CEO just endorse stripping most Americans of voting rights—and taking us back to the 19th century?

2

eBay will pay nearly $50 million after employees reportedly sent a Massachusetts couple a bloody pig mask, cockroaches and death threats

3

Current price of oil as of July 28, 2026
FinanceReal Estate

Billionaire investor Barry Sternlicht says inflation is going to ‘drop hard’—just look at rents

By
Alena Botros
Alena Botros
Former staff writer
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Alena Botros
Alena Botros
Former staff writer
Down Arrow Button Icon
April 10, 2023, 9:16 AM ET
Photo of Barry Sternlicht
Barry Sternlicht, chief executive officer of Starwood Capital, is not a big fan of the Fed.Lauren Justice/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Starwood Capital CEO Barry Sternlicht, who has a net worth of $4.6 billion, says inflation is going to drop—and it’s going to drop hard. 

Recommended Video

In an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, Sternlicht was asked what he’d say in response to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s annual letter to shareholders, in which Dimon writes that current economic conditions “create more risk and potentially higher inflation,” and higher rate hikes. However, after saying he’s a big fan of Dimon and that he runs “probably one of the best banks in the world,” Sternlicht clarified to CNBC that “we don’t agree on everything.”  

Sternlicht, who runs a private equity firm known for its billions in real estate holdings, told CNBC that he thinks “inflation is going to drop hard.”

Sternlicht pointed to falling rents as the reason, alluding to a slide that showed year-over-year rent growth, with two lines: one indicating “actual rents” and the other per the consumer price index. Viewers can see “actual rents,” or rent list prices, shifting downward, while the other as measured by the CPI looks to be trending upward. “There’s a lag in the way the government reports rental data,” Sternlicht said, but if you correct for this, it’ll show up later. 

And it’s not the first time he’s said as much about inflation or old data. Toward the end of last year, Sternlicht said “the economy is slowing on its own,” after calling the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes “self-inflicted suicide.” Of course, even before that, he had been a vocal critic of the Fed, telling Fortune that Fed Chair Jerome Powell and “his merry band of lunatics” were destroying faith in capitalism and would eventually trigger “social unrest.” He also berated the institution’s use of “old data” that’s behind its aggressive rate hikes. Nonetheless, he’s previously claimed “inflation is coming down hard…and it is coming down a lot faster than I think people thought,” and once again is sounding the alarm. 

Shelter is one-third of CPI, Sternlicht said this week, so if you make that correction it will bring headline inflation down and you’ll likely see that happen in the late summer and early fall. He continued, “So all else being equal, inflation is going down.” 

After peaking in June at 9.1%, inflation as measured by the consumer price index has slowed to 6%, as of February. The index for shelter (which measures changes in shelter costs) was the largest contributor to the monthly all-items increase, accounting for over 70% of the increase. However, rent growth continued to slow in February, marking the sixth consecutive month of single-digit increases on a national level, according to Rent.com. The median monthly rent rose 1.7% month over month but fell 0.25% year over year, according to the site’s report. On the state level, median rents were down in 60% of markets included in the study month over month and slightly over 16% of markets year over year.

His rent data, Sternlicht said, comes from a national rent database, before adding that his company has 125,000 apartments and they can model it, but it’s not uniform across the country. When rents were up 20%, Sternlicht said, “that’s what really drove CPI.” Sternlicht went on to mock the Fed’s credibility, which as we know isn’t an unusual take for him. 

Although Sternlicht did not comment on what falling inflation means for the real estate market, commercial or residential, it’s clear that both sectors within the industry are extremely sensitive to rate hikes, and when interest rates go up, property values can go down. But even though Sternlicht argues inflation is falling, he thinks “we’re going into a serious recession.” 

About the Author
By Alena BotrosFormer staff writer
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Alena Botros is a former reporter at Fortune, where she primarily covered real estate.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Finance

Jamie Dimon says his stockbroker father taught him to invest with a ‘brutally hard’ childhood game
C-SuiteJamie Dimon
Jamie Dimon says his stockbroker father taught him to invest with a ‘brutally hard’ childhood game
By Sarah GlodekJuly 29, 2026
58 minutes ago
Current ARM mortgage rates report for July 29, 2026
Personal FinanceReal Estate
Current ARM mortgage rates report for July 29, 2026
By Glen Luke FlanaganJuly 29, 2026
1 hour ago
Current refi mortgage rates report for July 29, 2026
Personal FinanceReal Estate
Current refi mortgage rates report for July 29, 2026
By Glen Luke FlanaganJuly 29, 2026
1 hour ago
Mortgage rates today, July 29, 2026
Personal Financemortgages
Mortgage rates today, July 29, 2026
By Glen Luke FlanaganJuly 29, 2026
1 hour ago
Trump broke his promise to lower — and eliminate — the national debt. A top investor thinks he’s the ‘worst-spending president in history’
Economynational debt
Trump broke his promise to lower — and eliminate — the national debt. A top investor thinks he’s the ‘worst-spending president in history’
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 29, 2026
2 hours ago
Photo of Trump
North AmericaDonald Trump
Netanyahu and Zelenskyy meet Trump at the White House as Washington honors Lindsey Graham
By The Associated PressJuly 28, 2026
11 hours ago

Most Popular

Why did a $154 billion CEO just endorse stripping most Americans of voting rights—and taking us back to the 19th century?
C-Suite
Why did a $154 billion CEO just endorse stripping most Americans of voting rights—and taking us back to the 19th century?
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 27, 2026
2 days ago
eBay will pay nearly $50 million after employees reportedly sent a Massachusetts couple a bloody pig mask, cockroaches and death threats
Law
eBay will pay nearly $50 million after employees reportedly sent a Massachusetts couple a bloody pig mask, cockroaches and death threats
By The Associated Press and Leah WillinghamJuly 28, 2026
11 hours ago
Current price of oil as of July 28, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 28, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 28, 2026
21 hours ago
The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'
Real Estate
The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 25, 2026
4 days ago
No. 1 on the Fortune Global 500: Amazon's Jeff Bezos on how his garage startup became the largest company in the world by revenue
Magazine
No. 1 on the Fortune Global 500: Amazon's Jeff Bezos on how his garage startup became the largest company in the world by revenue
By Kristin StollerJuly 28, 2026
1 day ago
The brutal math behind Gen Z's lonely weekends: $15 drinks are driving a generational 'spending hangover'
Economy
The brutal math behind Gen Z's lonely weekends: $15 drinks are driving a generational 'spending hangover'
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 28, 2026
18 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.