CRE

The industry had tightened up last year in the face of COVID-19. But as the economic outlook improves, banks are now easing criteria amid heightened competition, according to the Federal Reserve’s survey of loan officers.

Even as lockdowns ease, the trend toward remote work poses challenges for building owners and the banks that lend to them.

Growing CRE mortgage volumes raised the bar for the coming year despite lingering concerns, according to the CRE Finance Council.

With residential supply severely lagging behind demand, redeveloping unused office space into multifamily properties seems like a perfect solution, but it’ll take governmental collaboration and tax breaks to make such projects financially compelling, developers say.

However, conditions for commercial mortgages overall worsened slightly due to persistent concerns in the hotel and office sectors, a Moody’s Investors Service report found.

The bond issuance out of Fortress' CF Hippolyta master trust will finance 19 newly constructed or planned Amazon distribution and logistics facilities in 15 states.

Already contending with stressed retail, hotel and restaurant loans, bankers are beginning to view office lending — historically a safe bet — as increasingly risky as companies of all types rethink their space needs.

The Federal Reserve warned of significant risks of business bankruptcies and steep drops in commercial real estate prices in a report published on Friday.

Volumes should rise this year but it could become more difficult to get loans for certain property types, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Commercial real estate portfolios have held up better than expected during the pandemic. But rising delinquencies and fears of a delayed economic recovery are renewing questions about credit quality.

The river of red ink will likely begin to flow in the new year, due not only to the pandemic itself, but also to longer-term secular trends that have been accelerated by COVID-induced changes in the economy, says DebtX President and CEO Kingsley Greenland.

The economic fallout from COVID-19 has highlighted systemic concerns about commercial real estate exposure, business debt and short-term wholesale funding, the Financial Stability Oversight Council said in an annual report.

The ballot measure, which would allow local jurisdictions to expand rent control, had concerned mortgage companies who worried the law would result in a patchwork of different policies that could complicate underwriting and discourage lending.

The price for the commercial valuation and budgeting technology company was not disclosed.

The predominantly white universe of real estate investors may be used to working with people and companies with enough financial resources to have a track record in the business, but historic inequities have limited those opportunities for Black executives.

One could change how commercial property is taxed, the other could change rent control policies. Both might affect financing.

The Charlotte, N.C., company recently closed on a sale of its Cohen Financial platform to SitusAMC.

A new report on bank-held commercial real estate and C&I loans indicates troubled borrowers may be skipping payments on loans they won't be able to refinance or extend over the next year, leading to a potential wave of defaults over the next four to six quarters.

The city of Birmingham plans to set aside nearly $1 million in the 2021 budget to prop up the underperforming CrossPlex Village development in Five Points West, city officials said.

Borrowers will likely have to put more assets on the line to get forbearance extensions.