Some Commercial Real Estate Deals Having Difficulties
SOURCE: Bloomberg
Real estate deals are coming apart at the fastest pace since September 2001, when the U.S. economy was shrinking, because banks are tightening standards for loans, said Robert White, president of Real Capital Analytics, a New York-based research firm. About $15 billion of commercial property transactions of $10 million or more are under contract in the U.S., compared with about $70 billion at mid-year, White said. That's unusual because the number usually rises at year-end, he said.
The past seven years have seen a rally in office and retail property sales. Since September 2007 this seems to have ended. Prices of commercial properties have reflected this by an average drop in price of 1.2%. Potential purchasers have to work harder at buying these reduced properties due to the tightened rules.
Even though defaults on commercial loans are only running at 0.4% in the U.S., the market traders seem to be overreacting according to some mortgage brokers. The decline in prices of the safest types of commercial mortgage-backed securities is caused mostly due to a slump in credit markets, not expectations of defaults on the loans backing the securities.
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Real estate deals are coming apart at the fastest pace since September 2001, when the U.S. economy was shrinking, because banks are tightening standards for loans, said Robert White, president of Real Capital Analytics, a New York-based research firm. About $15 billion of commercial property transactions of $10 million or more are under contract in the U.S., compared with about $70 billion at mid-year, White said. That's unusual because the number usually rises at year-end, he said.
The past seven years have seen a rally in office and retail property sales. Since September 2007 this seems to have ended. Prices of commercial properties have reflected this by an average drop in price of 1.2%. Potential purchasers have to work harder at buying these reduced properties due to the tightened rules.
Even though defaults on commercial loans are only running at 0.4% in the U.S., the market traders seem to be overreacting according to some mortgage brokers. The decline in prices of the safest types of commercial mortgage-backed securities is caused mostly due to a slump in credit markets, not expectations of defaults on the loans backing the securities.
Read full report »
