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When President Bill Clinton signed legislation to repeal the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act in 1999, he handed Wall Street  a victory that likely contributed to the recent financial meltdown. Glass-Steagall’s repeal eliminated barriers between normal banking activities – deposits and lending – and riskier areas such as derivatives trading. “The capital-market rules are going to change,” […]

A new study conducted by the University of San Diego and CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. (CBRE) has found that tenants in green buildings experience fewer sick days and have increased productivity.  Furthermore, researchers determined that green buildings have higher rental rates and lower vacancies. Overseen by Dr. Norm Miller of the University of San […]

There’s a rather odd correlation between the New York Yankees winning the World Series and Wall Street.   A Yankee win historically has coincided with a bull market.  An analysis by Standard & Poor’s Capital IQ reveals an average of double-digit yearly returns from stocks when the Yankees win the World Series.  By contrast, the stock […]

Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett’s purchase of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF) is a $34 billion bet on the future of the nation’s economy.  BNSF’s acquisition by Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. is significant because it is the country’s second largest railroad and the primary hauler of food and coal, which makes it a barometer of […]

Because the United States is producing an increasing number of high school graduates who go on to attend college, student housing apparently is recession-proof  real estate.  This is the finding of a recently released report from the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) that studied the recession’s impact on college enrollment and on-campus dormitory vacancy rates. […]

The Federal Reserve is considering regulating banks’ pay policies to make certain they discourage employees from making the irresponsible gambles that led to 2008’s financial meltdown.  The Fed’s proposal would apply to thousands of banks, including some that did not receive bailouts. Under the Fed’s proposal, the central bank would review – and could say […]

The markets are keeping a close eye on a transaction that may jump start the commercial property debt market, even though the Federal Reserve has expressed some uneasiness with the deal.  If the transaction is successful, it could pave the way for the initial sale of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) under the government Term Asset-Backed […]

The Western European commercial real estate bright spot is the activity by German investors, according to the latest Global Capital Trends report from Real Capital Analytics (RCA).  “In April, the Germans raised a half billion Euros — approximately $690 million – for their open-ended funds.  That is in addition to the billion Euros raised in […]

The federal government’s program to help homeowners facing foreclosure has reached its target of 500,000 mortgage modifications by November 1.  “There is a lot of work left to do,” said Shaun Donovan, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.  “Today’s announcement is a good step forward, but we are nowhere near the finish line.”  The long-term […]

The majority of commercial property loans in the United Kingdom are currently in default, according to a study by CB Richard Ellis.  Approximately £200 billion ($327 billion) is required to refinance existing loans secured against £450 billion of properties over the next five to seven years.  Only half of that amount is available, according to […]