World Property Journal, Apr. 7, 2017–Michael GerrityAccording to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s 2016 Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Annual Origination Volume Summation, U.S. commercial and multifamily mortgage bankers closed $490.6 billion of loans in 2016.
Category: Top National News
Zillow: Renters Will Need to Earn More to Cover Housing Costs
National Mortgage Professional, Apr. 7, 2017–Phil HallRenters will need to raise their incomes by an average of $168 a year to keep up with expected rent increases over the next 12 months, according to a new forecast from Zillow, which added that median rent prices are predicted to be $1,420 at this time next year.
Lending for Commercial Property Falls as Investors Pull Back
Wall Street Journal, Apr. 11, 2017–Peter Grant (subscription)Lenders closed $491 billion of mortgage loans in 2016, down 3% from 2015, according to new statistics from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Most of the decline occurred in the fourth quarter, when volume was 7% lower than the same quarter in 2015.
Banks Lend Aggressively on CRE Despite Downturn Fears
The Real Deal (Los Angeles), Apr. 11, 2017Banks are aggressively lending on commercial properties even as developers and equity investors are starting to pull back amid fears of a downturn. Total U.S. commercial real estate lending volume decreased slightly to $491 billion in 2016–down 3 percent from 2015, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Office Tower on Billionaires’ Row Snags a Low-Rate Loan
Wall Street Journal, Apr. 11, 2017–Peter Grant (subscription)Carnegie Hall Tower, the Manhattan office skyscraper that helped shore up the finances of the fabled concert hall, refinanced its debt with a $325 million loan from Metropolitan Life Insurance.
Chicago Entices Companies to Return Downtown
Wall Street Journal, Apr. 11, 2017–Shibani Mahtani, Andrew Tangel (subscription)The tide of companies moving back to big cities in search of talent and better transportation links is rising, reviving many downtowns at the expense of suburbs and smaller communities.
Commercial Lenders Brace for Damage from Retail Plunge
National Mortgage News, Apr. 11, 2017–Andy Peters (subscription)A litany of bankruptcies among retailers has many lenders on edge as they and others try to predict how much damage it could do to bank earnings–and how soon.
3 Charts That Show Why Commercial Real Estate Could be the Next ‘Big Short’
Business Insider, Mar. 30, 2017–Stephen McBrideBearish bets against commercial loans jumped 50% year-over-year in February.
How Crowdfunding is Democratizing Real Estate Investing
NPR Marketplace, Mar. 30, 2017–Molly Wood, Maria HollenhorstCrowdfunding has become a popular source of development financing, said Rodrigo Niño of Prodigy Network, which uses crowdfunding to build commercial real estate.
Why We Could Get Negative Interest Rates Even Though The Fed Is Hiking
Forbes, Apr. 3, 2017–Stephen McBrideAt its March meeting, the Federal Reserve said monetary policy will remain accommodative “for some time.” This willingness to let inflation “run hot” means even as nominal rates rise, real rates–that is, the nominal interest rate minus inflation–are headed into negative territory.