Commercial lending

Washington Trust shares plunged after the Westerly, Rhode Island, company disclosed it booked an office deal in the third quarter, boosting the size of its portfolio while other lenders are pulling back.

The Hicksville, New York, company beat analysts' expectations on net interest income, but a pair of souring office loans contributed to a 68% increase in nonperforming loans from the prior quarter.

The top five lenders have an average total origination volume of more than $9 billion through June 30, 2023.

It's been a rocky few years for senior housing as the sector recovers from its COVID occupancy drop and its profitability takes a hit. But bankers see long-term opportunities amid an aging U.S. population and say their portfolios are healthy.

Donald Trump wanted to get higher on the Forbes billionaires list and save a fortune on loan terms by overvaluing his properties, according to documents presented by New York Attorney General Letitia James at the former president's civil fraud trial. 

Commercial real estate borrowers, including vulnerable office tower landlords, are increasingly struggling to make payments and, as a result, more lenders are expected to report higher credit costs.

Credit ratings were cut on the highest number of commercial mortgage-backed securities in "recent memory" last week, according to strategists at Bank of America Corp.

Commercial real estate loans are a growing area of concern for banks. But OceanFirst says its exposure to a troubled shared credit tied to a Manhattan office building isn't a sign of broader problems in its portfolio.

But a great deal of variation in distress levels were reported between individual markets and property sectors, according to two new reports.

When 55 banks were asked to provide metrics on the health of their commercial real estate borrowers, some of them gave data that was six months old. The survey by Moody's Investors Service also found that certain borrowers are already struggling, and others could hit trouble soon, since they'll need to refinance at high interest rates.