Articles About CMBS

The Federal Reserve is ending its purchase of mortgage-backed securities, a sign of confidence that the nation’s economic recovery is well underway.  At the same time, the Fed voted to retain its benchmark interest rate at approximately zero percent, because of remaining economic weakness and the lack of inflation.  According to the Fed, it will […]

Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) are expected to remain below $15 billion in 2010 as borrowers cope with falling property values.  According to Alan Todd, a JPMorgan analyst, debt sales backed by CBD office, hotel and shopping center loans could be as low as $10 billion this year.  Aaron Bryson of Barclays Capital is more optimistic, […]

Foreign banks, American private equity firms and a leading Chinese sovereign wealth fund have been investing in commercial real estate in the United States in the hope that interest rates stay low. This increasing interest from investors could be a sign that the market is experiencing some stabilization.  According to Bob Steers, co-chairman of Cohen […]

Commercial real estate will begin its long-awaited recovery in late 2011 or 2012, according to the fourth-quarter Korpacz Real Estate Investor Survey, which questioned more than 100 real estate investors, including REITs, pension funds, private equity firms and insurance and mortgage companies.  Confirmation is provided by a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey, which notes that Washington policymakers are […]

The commercial bond market may be opening up slightly as Bank of America (BofA) prepares to sell $460 million worth of bonds collateralized by properties owned by Fortress Investment Group. The bonds that BofA is arranging are ineligible for TALF, another positive sign that the commercial mortgage market might finally be showing signs of improvement. […]

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 Treasury Department has issued new tax rules that make it easier for commercial real estate owners to restructure loans on distressed properties that were package by Wall Street and sold as CMBS.  The real estate industry, which lobbied hard for the changed rules, were generally happy but wary that it could open a can […]

An interesting comment in an article that some might have missed.  GlobeSt.com reports that Eastern Consolidated CEO Peter Hauspurg said  “part of the whole thing that’s keeping these banks glued up with the CMBS is the fact [that] no one has been able to unravel the loans they understood when they made them.” Hauspurg noted […]

Moody’s reiterated its February analysis of CMBS loans,  noting that the majority of 2006 – 2008 ratings of conduit/fusion and large-loan deals are still stable.  The ratings agency warns that the assumptions hold up “as long as conditions in the commercial real estate market and the general economy do not weaken.” Since February, “property prices […]

$70 trillion dollars.  That’s all the money in the world, or to get technical, the subset of global savings known as fixed-income securities.  And it almost doubled from $36 trillion in just six years.  How did this happen? The Federal Reserve presided over the creation of what we have learned (the hard way) is a […]