Category: News and Trends

Commercial real estate investors appear to be growing more conservative as the real estate cycle lengthens.

LGIS Group, Atlanta, launched commercial property loan insurance for commercial real estate, similar to private mortgage insurance in residential mortgage lending.

Despite steadily growing new office supply, robust absorption held the sector’s vacancy rate steady at 13.7 percent in April, said Yardi Matrix, Santa Barbara, Calif.

Morningstar has agreed to acquire fellow credit rating agency DBRS. The firms expect the transaction to close early in the third quarter.

In search for yield and a vote of confidence in the assets, investors have pulled commercial mortgage-backed securities credit spreads lower in recent years.

Rent prices in single-family rental properties increased 2.9 percent year-over-year in March, in part due to strong employment figures, reported CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif.

Kenneth R. Harney, whose syndicated column “The Nation’s Housing” served as a source of news and information for consumers and real estate finance professionals alike, died May 23 from acute myeloid leukemia. He was 75.

Adverse selection in the commercial mortgage-backed securities 1.0 universe of pre-2009 loans drove loss severities higher last year, reported Fitch Ratings, New York.

The U.S. retail market is flat as shifts in consumer spending result in a high and stagnant retail vacancy rate, said Ten-X, Irvine, Calif.

In search for yield and a vote of confidence in the assets, investors have pulled commercial mortgage-backed securities credit spreads lower in recent years.