Commercial lending

Benefiting from higher loan guarantee income and lower derivative losses, Freddie Mac said Tuesday it had made $993 million in the second quarter, a dramatic reversal from its $354 million loss a quarter earlier.

Carver Bancorp in New York is dealing with a new set of challenges just months after being released from a longstanding enforcement order. The company’s woes highlight the challenges for banks with narrowly constrained business models.

Suffolk Bancorp in New York, which recently agreed to sell to People's United Financial, discouraged several suitors from bidding due to concerns about concentrations of commercial real estate loans at those banks. The disclosures highlight the challenges that banks with heavy CRE exposure could face — as buyers or sellers — if they want to do deals.

Flagstar Bancorp reported a 2% uptick in net income during the second quarter from a year ago, thanks in part to higher commercial loan origination volume.

Multifamily family construction is reaching the point where some markets can't absorb the new supply of units.

Synovus Financial in Columbus, Ga., reported higher second-quarter earnings on solid growth in revenue and loans for investment properties.

The management team at Bank of the Ozarks knows it has a dependency on commercial real estate. But they assert that sound underwriting, and efforts to diversify, are what really matters when assessing risk.

A noted upper midtown Manhattan retail center that sold last month for $525 million is among several high-end retail, shopping and hotel resort properties JPMorgan is including in its latest commercial mortgage securitization.

Total multifamily and commercial mortgage originations are expected to decrease from last year's levels because of economic uncertainty, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, an asset manager owned by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance, agreed to buy ACRE Capital Holdings in a bet on multifamily loans.

The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority intends to offer up to $63 million in fixed-rate bonds on Tuesday and $23 million as variable rate on July 13.

Suffolk Bancorp said increased oversight of commercial real estate contributed to — and may have accelerated — its decision to sell to People's United. Other banks could make a similar choice.

In something of a cruel irony, homebuilders are finding constraints on construction financing easing, but little in the way of quality lots on which to put up their houses.

There's been plenty of speculation about insurance companies crowding out commercial mortgage bond investors this year.

American farmers who expanded production using rented land during the commodity boom a few years ago are now struggling to repay loans.

Small-business lenders are scrambling for financing to accommodate a possible real-estate-related borrowing surge once a key federal rule change takes effect next week.

The returns on private commercial mortgage investments held by life insurance companies are on the rise, according to the LifeComps Commercial Mortgage Index.

Banks are increasing their construction lending to builders but access to land acquisition and development loans remains tight.

The stock price of CBL & Associates Properties Inc. sank 13% in early trading after a published report said the U.S. retail landlord is being investigated for accounting fraud.

Paramount Group is closing a real estate debt fund that has $775 million in commitments.