Commercial/Multifamily News Briefs Nov. 3, 2022

HUD Releases New CNA eTool Training
HUD released new training on its Capital Needs Assessment eTool, with more modules on the way.

HUD’s existing online training can be found here:
https://www.hudexchange.info/trainings/learning-pathways/master-the-cna-e-tool-version-3-0/ . The link for the HUD exchange training is called “Learning Pathway”

• The first three ‘steps’ has video clips of basic level overviews;
• Step six has a list of videos that get more into additional details.

HUD Technical Support Division has developed six modules of Web-Based Training platform and is in the process of completely updating one of the modules using a whole new online training platform using more modern technology.

Strawberry Fields Begins Trading on the OTCQX Markets
Strawberry Fields REIT, South Bend, Ind., an owner and lessor of skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities and long-term acute care hospitals in the Midwest and southern U.S., started trading on the OTC Markets Group under the symbol “STRW”.

OTCQX is an operator of regulated markets for trading 12,000 U.S. and international securities.

“My partners and I invested significant time and energy to build our company, starting with the acquisition of 33 properties in Indiana and Illinois from 2005 through 2014. Since 2014, we have since expanding our regional footprint to where we are today with, 74 standalone facilities and four dual-purpose properties,” said Moishe Gubin, Chairman & CEO of Strawberry Fields REIT.

Strawberry Fields REIT currently owns and leases properties in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.

Across the Strawberry Fields REIT portfolio, average facility occupancy is 65.1%, as of June 2022. The current payor mix is 73% Medicaid, 13% Medicare, 8% insurance and 6% private. Average facility size is approximately 130 beds.

Aeon Investments: U.S. Institutional Investors Pessimistic about Fixed-Income Market
Further rises in interest rates and inflation are the biggest concerns U.S. pension funds and other US institutional investors have about the fixed income market, reported Aeon Investments, London.

Aeon surveyed U.S.-based professional investors who collectively have nearly $87 billion in assets under management.

Some 95% of survey respondents said they are concerned about further rises in interest rates, with 55% of these calling themselves “very concerned.” The corresponding figures for inflation are 90% and 55%, and for falling valuations of fixed income assets, the figures are 85% and 45% respectively.

Nearly 70% of those surveyed said they are concerned about central bank tightening policies (40% are very concerned about this), and 70% said this about poor yields on many traditional fixed income assets (45% are very concerned about this).

Aeon noted 35% of U.S. pension funds and other institutional investors surveyed expect global bond performance to deteriorate further due to these concerns over the next 12 months – some 25% expect a significant decline. Just 25% said they believe global bond performance to improve over the next 12 months.