HousingWire, Sept. 5, 2017–Brena SwansonAs the expiration date of the National Flood Insurance Program draws nearer, the Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan analysis for the U.S. Congress, calculated that the program has an expected one-year shortfall of $1.4 billion.
Category: Top National News

Harvey Makes Trump Rethink Draining Swamp at HUD
National Mortgage News, Sept. 5, 2017 (subscription)The long-term recovery for thousands of Texans whose homes were decimated by Hurricane Harvey rests with a Trump administration government outsider who wants his agency’s budget cut by billions of dollars.

Mortgage-Backed Securities Market Heats Up
Wall Street Journal, Sept. 5, 2017–Peter Grant (subscription)Banks and other underwriters of commercial mortgage-backed securities are on track to issue more notes in September than any other month this year.

Real Estate Firm Says Malls Need a New Business Model
Wall Street Journal, Sept. 5, 2017–Esther Fung (subscription)Malls need to shift emphasis away from department stores and toward retailers that are less susceptible to competition from e-commerce, according to a report from real estate services firm CBRE Research.

Multifamily REITs Pour Money into New Development
National Real Estate Investor, Sept. 5, 2017–Bendix AndersonMultifamily real estate investment trusts keep building new apartments and the analysts who track the companies are getting worried.

Before Harvey, Houston Had a Glut of Rentals. Not Any More
Wall Street Journal, Sept. 3, 2017–Laura Kusisto, Valerie Bauerlein (subscription)Not even two weeks ago, this city had one of the weakest apartment markets in the country with tens of thousands of vacant units. Now landlords say prospective renters are lining up outside their doors and some have almost no units left.

CMBS Delinquency Sinks, Industrial Leads Drop
Mortgage Daily, Sept. 1, 2017Past due payments on securitized commercial real estate loans turned lower as the wall of maturities subsided. The improvement was led by industrial loans, said Morningstar Credit Ratings LLC.

CMBS Delinquency Down 2nd Consecutive Month
Mortgage Daily, Aug. 30, 2017For the second month in a row, the performance of securitized commercial real estate loans improved. Industrial loans led the decline in late payments, said Trepp LLC.

High-End Manhattan Apartment Sales Are Soft
Wall Street Journal, Sept. 6, 2017–Josh Barbanel (subscription)Stribling Private Brokerage said contracts signed on Manhattan listings of $5 million or more have been sliding since May compared with recent years, after showing signs of recovery earlier this year.

Vultures Begin to Circle Commercial Real Estate
Wall Street Journal, Aug. 29, 2017–Peter Grant (subscription)Investors are raising funds to take advantage of busted condominium projects and other distressed property as a correction shows signs of spreading in parts of the commercial real estate industry.