CMF Newslinks Archive

“The first quarter growth [in the Apartment Investment Market Index] was largely attributable to falling rates, but growth in net operating incomes and a marginally slower rate of property price growth were also factors.”–Freddie Mac Vice President of Multifamily Research and Modeling Steve Guggenmos.

“Empty big box stores have been converting to self-storage or been sold to developers for redevelopment, former shopping centers have been demolished and there has been a general slowdown in building within the sector.”–Reis Chief Economist Victor Calanog.

“Insurers continued to see relative value in mortgages compared with other asset classes and are driving exposures higher as they trade liquidity for yield.”–Fitch Ratings Director of North American Insurance Nelson Ma.

“Solid economic growth is encouraging new household formation and rentals are capturing a sizable share of the resulting housing demand. At the same time, loss of existing renters to home purchase remains limited relative to historical levels.”–RealPage Chief Economist Greg Willett.

“Conventional wisdom and years of experience tell us that we may be long in the cycle. At the same time, there is a broad sense of optimism, albeit somewhat cautious, that with the level of capital poised for investment, there are still allocations to be met and transactions to be completed.”–Real Capital Markets COO Tina Lichens.

“There is no silver bullet for this complicated issue [the affordable housing shortage]. In order to tackle this problem, we will need a multifaceted approach.”–Berkadia Senior Vice President Steve Ervin.

“The amount of mortgage debt backed by commercial and multifamily income-producing properties continues to grow at a strong pace, with three of the four major capital sources, banks, life companies and the GSEs/FHA, growing their holdings by more than one percent during the first quarter.”–MBA Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell.

“The vast majority of commercial and multifamily mortgage lenders report they are working on the transition away from LIBOR, but the devil is in the details.”–MBA Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell.

“The lowest unemployment rate in 50 years, combined with strong housing demand, have contributed to increasing rents across the country.”–CoreLogic Principal Economist Molly Boesel.

“When I think about what’s likely to happen, I come back to the idea of a ‘plateau.’ Coming off a record year of originations, I don’t see much pulling those numbers down, and I also don’t see much pushing those numbers much higher, so we generally see a plateau for originations for the next few years. If we continue to run at this level, that still means growth in mortgage debt outstanding because of maturities, and that means there will likely be more need for servicers like you to service these loans.”–MBA Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell.