Bloomberg, Mar. 19, 2018–David M LevittLast year, Chinese conglomerate HNA bought 245 Park Ave., a late 1960s-era building that’s home to JPMorgan Chase & Co., paying one of the highest prices ever for a New York office property. Values have since dropped and HNA faces the challenge of selling a building that’s starting to lose some of its gold-plated tenants and in need of improvements that could cost its new owner more than $1 billion.
Category: Top National News
Millennial Home Buyers Underperform Despite Being Top Purchasers
National Mortgage News, Mar. 19, 2018–Elina Tarkazikis (subscription)Nearly one-third of all home purchases were made by millennials over the past year, but tight inventory and affordability issues prevented them from reaching their buying potential, according to a report.
$3.18T in Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Debt Outstanding in 2017
National Mortgage Professional, Mar. 20, 2018–Phil HallCommercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding reached $3.18 trillion at the end of 2017, a 6.7 percent increase from the $200.3 billion level reached one year earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Opinion: Is The Fed Really Ready to Run With the Bulls?
MarketWatch, Mar. 20, 2018–Caroline BaumThree or four interest rate increases? That is the burning question on everyone’s mind as the Federal Reserve meets this week for the first time under the stewardship of new Chairman Jerome Powell.
Look For Downward Pricing Of REITs
GlobeSt.com, Mar. 21, 2018–Betsy Kim The public market is saying something bad is going to happen to private real estate pricing.
A Private Equity Investor Discusses Where to Put Money at the End of the Cycle
National Real Estate Investor, Mar. 19, 2018–John EganVirtus Real Estate Capital CEO Terrell Gates said he continues to stick to a “cycle-resilient” strategy that zeroes in on seniors housing, medical office and workforce housing.
Claire’s Bankruptcy Would Accompany a Shift Away From Malls
Bloomberg, Mar. 9, 2018–Lauren Coleman-Lochner, Eliza Ronalds-HannonClaire’s Stores Inc., which is said to be preparing a bankruptcy to ease its crushing debt load, is simultaneously working on a second problem: its deep reliance on malls.
Is the Speculative Office Development Pipeline Going to Cause a Problem?
National Real Estate Investor, March 8, 2018–Mary DudichSpeculative office construction as a percentage of supply underway is expected reach its highest level in years in 2018. But some experts say there is enough demand out there for new, quality space–even as the national office vacancy rate has not seen a significant drop since 2010.
CMBS Delinquency Rates Improve Except for Retail Property Loans
National Mortgage News, Mar. 12, 2018–Brad Finkelstein (subscription)With the exception of the troubled retail sector, delinquency rates across property types supporting commercial mortgage-backed securities were mostly flat to declining in February compared with January, Fitch Ratings said.
Ten Years After the Bear Stearns Bailout, Nobody Thinks It Would Happen Again
Wall Street Journal, Mar. 13, 2018–Justin Baer, Ryan Tracy (subscription)Ten years ago Wednesday, that was Bear Stearns Cos., a once-storied firm whose excessive leverage had helped put it on the brink. The Federal Reserve tried to limit the damage with extraordinary actions, first extending the firm credit before forcing it into a hasty weekend shotgun marriage to JPMorgan.