The Lede

The Real Deal Los Angeles, Apr. 15, 2016--Mashayekhi, Rey  Real estate investor Sam Zell said the U.S. economy is "doing pretty well," but added that the cycle "is in the ninth inning."

MarketWatch, Apr. 16, 2016--Goldstein, Daniel That sound you hear may be some air finally escaping from the inflated San Francisco real estate market.

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Apr. 17, 2016--Little, Andrew Led Zeppelin was discussing the impact of a levee breaking on the last song of the band's fourth album, but the iconic final words in the song could easily be referring to commercial real estate transaction volume today: "going down, going down now, going down ..."

Wall Street Journal, Apr. 19, 2016--Patnaude, Art A major U.K. landlord warned Tuesday that the boom in global real estate is coming to an end.

National Real Estate Investor, Apr. 19, 2016--Anderson, Bendix Yield-driven multifamily investors are more and more likely to focus on fixing up older properties.

National Mortgage Professional, Apr. 19, 2016--Hall, Phil  Commercial real estate lending is being viewed by banks as a major target of business activity, a new survey said.

HousingWire, Apr. 18, 2016--Lane, Ben GE Capital, once a big player in housing finance, is now just a handful of days away from exiting the U.S. banking system after the company completed the sale of its online deposit platform to Goldman Sachs.

National Real Estate Investor, Apr. 20, 2016--Mattson-Teig, Beth  A recent dip in investment sales transactions has sparked questions on whether the decline is a temporary hiccup or a sign of a bigger slowdown ahead.

CTPost (Conn.), Apr. 20, 2016--Soule, Alexander  With interest rates still low, commercial banks in Connecticut maintained the pace of their commercial real estate lending heading into 2016, with a booming apartment market spilling over into retail developments and other deals.

Wall Street Journal, Apr. 20, 2016--Tracy, Ryan; Krause, Sarah In 2014, BlackRock Inc. executives obtained a copy of a confidential Federal Reserve PowerPoint presentation that argued part of the giant money manager could pose the same financial-system risk as big banks.

Real estate activity generally expanded in late February and March, the Federal Reserve reported yesterday in its Beige Book.

WASHINGTON, D.C.--Housing finance reform remains stalled in Congress, but next year could prove pivotal in the effort to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two senators said this week.

Small-balance loan originations grew 10 percent year-over-year in 2015 to eclipse 2013's previous peak of $176.2 billion, reported Boxwood Means, Stamford, Conn.

Global retail space under development increased 7.4 percent last year to 451 million square feet, reported CBRE Group, Los Angeles.

After a shaky start in early 2016, office market fundamentals proved steady with supply and demand moving in lock-step by the end of the first quarter, reported JLL, Chicago.

Silver Hill Funding, Coral Gables, Fla., introduced a new Multifamily Streamline Program for small-balance commercial mortgage loans from $250,000 to $1 million that does not require tax returns or 4506-T forms.