Source: New York Times — Fannie Mae, the government-backed mortgage financier, said on Wednesday that it made a profit in the first quarter of the year and that it does not need additional bailout money — a first since the federal government took it over in the fall of 2008.
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A slowdown in the decline of home prices and the number of homes entering serious delinquency allowed the mortgage giant to eke out a profit after paying its dividend to the Treasury. Fannie Mae also said losses on its legacy portfolio of home mortgages had probably peaked and that it expected better profits going forward, another sign that the worst might be over for the battered American housing market.
The mortgage giant reported quarterly net income of $2.7 billion, up from a $6.5 billion loss in the first quarter of 2011. Read the full story…
Commercial loan rates just updated today. Keep in mind these rates are for information purposes and that you may be able to improve on these by submitting a commercial loan request.
Source: Bloomberg – A “major portion” of small commercial property deals in the U.S. have fallen through because of stricter lending standards, according to a National Association of Realtors survey.
While the commercial real estate market showed signs of recovery in 2011, credit tightened in the past year for small businesses, the group said today in a report. Two out of three agents helping clients buy properties for less than $2 million said the purchases were scuttled because of a lack of capital, according to the survey.
Small business transactions relied heavily on regional and local banks, and 30 percent of the commercial loans on properties such as apartments, offices, warehouses, land, shopping centers and restaurants were made with cash, according to the survey. Read the full story…
Source: MarketWatch — Development and construction of commercial real estate – office, industrial and retail buildings – rebounded in 2011, the first year to post gains since the recession began in 2007, according to a report, “How Office, Industrial and Retail Development and Construction Contributed to the U.S. Economy in 2011,” released today by the NAIOP Research Foundation.The total economic impact of the development (pre-construction, construction and post-construction) of commercial real estate during 2011 added $261.6 billion to the GDP, compared to $231.7 billion in 2010, a 13 percent increase, according to the report.
Source: MarketWatch — LoopNet.com is the industry’s largest and most heavily trafficked online marketplace with five million members registered since 1995 and nearly three million unique monthly visitors according to Google Analytics. LoopNet is also the leading website for marketing commercial property listings.
CoStar operates the largest and most robust commercial real estate financing information database with 81.8 billion square feet of office, retail and industrial inventory, 1.5 million listings and 12.7 million images.
The commercial real estate market is one of the largest asset classes in the United States with over $11 trillion in value, and the potential size of the industry providing marketing and information services to commercial real estate professionals is approximately $30 billion, according to CoStar.
CoStar believes that once the two companies’ databases are combined, CoStar will have a database with approximately 2 million active listings, giving customers a more comprehensive and efficient view of the market. Read the full press release…
Commercial mortgage rates just updated today. Keep in mind these rates are for information purposes and that you may be able to improve on these by submitting a commercial loan request.
This video came out in January, but it is worth watching. Mr. Hentschel speaks at length about the trends ahead for commercial real estate financing at this interview given at the REIT World conference. He talks very positively about apartment financing and expressed understandable concerns regarding secondary markets.
Source: LA Times – After an extended lull brought on by the economic downturn, commercial real estate developers are building again.
Some of the activity involves the revival of projects that stopped during the recession, but many others are new from the ground up and mark the return of construction cranes to the Southern California skyline along with the injection of billions of dollars into apartment loans and the local economy.
An intense demand for apartments is the biggest driver of development, as the improving economy supports the formation of new households. But offices, warehouses and stores are also being built, according to real estate brokerage Marcus & Millichap.
“We haven’t had any meaningful construction of any type since 2005 or 2006,” said Hessam Nadji, managing director of research at the brokerage. “A new cycle is beginning.”
He expects 6,600 apartments and 2.4 million square feet of commercial space to be delivered this year in Los Angeles County. More apartment loans are on the way. Read the full story…
Source: REIT.com — Investors and lenders are more careful today as a result of the Great Recession, according to Scott Hileman, director, real estate consulting at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services.
“I think going forward, people will be a lot more cautious whenever they’re making new investments, in terms of understanding the market and the properties,” he said during a video interview with REIT.com at the Akerman U.S. Real Estate Summit this month in Miami.
That caution is expected to remain in place; Hileman doesn’t expect to see the “irrational exuberance that came out of the market in 2007.” Banks, in particular – which face strong regulatory pressures – will be more cautious when making new loans, Hileman noted.
In the event of another recession, Hileman said the commercial real estate loan market as a whole will be better prepared.
“Having gone through that Great Recession, I think everyone is much more cognizant of the signs,” he said. “When we see issues pop up, I think there will be an adjustment made more quickly than it was back in 2006, at the height of the market.”
Additionally, Hileman said that public companies are ahead of the curve in terms of being able to make new investments after the recession. He noted that the publicly traded companies have done a better job in clearing up their balance sheets and raising capital.
Source: New York Times — Fannie Mae, the government-backed mortgage financier, said on Wednesday that it made a profit in the first quarter of the year and that it does not need additional bailout money — a first since the federal government took it over in the fall of 2008.
