Category: News and Trends

The Mortgage Bankers, in a series of letters to federal agencies, offered recommendations to the Federal Housing Finance Agency on its proposed capital requirements for the government-sponsored enterprises (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac); the FHFA proposed rule on the GSEs’ Uniform Mortgage-Backed Security; and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s proposed rule to revamp the Community Reinvestment Act.

Commercial property market supply and demand fundamentals remained relatively stable in the second quarter, said Moody’s Investors Service, New York.

Despite significant U.S. economic expansion, the retail sector continues to wane with store closings and space shrinkage dominating the market.

Commercial real estate transaction volumes through the first three quarters increased 14.2 percent over last year to $341.2 billion, reported JLL, Chicago.

While demand for distribution and warehouse space remains strong across most U.S. markets, investors should expect to pay more for debt financing heading into 2019, said Avison Young, Toronto.

Macerich, Santa Monica, Calif., launched BrandBox as a way for digital-native brands to open and operate brick-and-mortar stores and scale physical retail as a complement to e-commerce.

The Mortgage Bankers Association announced a record 149 individual employees from MBA member companies were awarded a Path to Diversity scholarship during the 2018 fiscal year.

The Mortgage Bankers Association weighed in yesterday on proposed changes to the High Volatility Commercial Real Estate risk-based capital rule, offering recommendations on implementation issues and expressing concerns about certain rule interpretations.

Though cap rates have mostly declined since 2000, market indicators suggest the declining cap rate era is ending and moderate cap rate expansion is likely, said RCLCO, Bethesda, Md.

The U.S. office market maintained its steady improvement in the third quarter, sector analysts reported.