Category: Real Estate

Banks Tightening CRE Lending Standards

by Randybaconin Commercial Mortgage Lending, Real EstateLeave a Comment on Banks Tightening CRE Lending Standards

Financing

CRE Loan Growth Still Strong but Moderates in July as Analysts Sees More “Rationality” Return to the Market

Second quarter bank earnings results and early third quarter lending numbers clearly show U.S.-based banks have tightened their underwriting standards for CRE loans as they face increased scrutiny of their commercial real estate lending from bank examiners.

In fact, loan officers at domestic banks reported that the current standards are tighter now than they have been on average since 2005, according to the latest Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey from the Federal Reserve.

The tighter underwriting is showing up in shortened interest-only periods and lower loan-to-value (LTV) ratios as well.

Read entire article on CoStar.com

To find out more about commercial real estate financing options contact Liberty Realty Capital

Our Air Is Getting Cleaner, And Natural Gas Deserves Some Fracking Credit

by Randybaconin Real Estate, TechnologyLeave a Comment on Our Air Is Getting Cleaner, And Natural Gas Deserves Some Fracking Credit

 

frackingA new study released by the World Health Organization (WHO) says although outdoor air pollution worldwide has increased by 8% in the past five years, air quality in the United States has become cleaner. A key reason that air quality has improved is because more Americans than ever are now relying on natural gas, and burning natural gas emits fewer pollutants into the atmosphere than burning coal.

The air in this country is getting cleaner, and natural gas deserves some fracking credit.

Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, has turned the U.S. into the largest producer of natural gas in the world. Fracking has unleashed so much natural gas that prices have plummeted in the past several years, which has made it cheaper to generate electricity from burning natural gas than from coal. This is an important part of explaining why WHO recorded lower levels of air pollutants in the U.S.

View entire article in Investors Business Daily.

Best and Worst Apartment Markets in 2016

by Randybaconin Commercial Mortgage Lending, Real EstateLeave a Comment on Best and Worst Apartment Markets in 2016

Multifamily Financing

It’s a tough time to pick the strongest apartment markets. That’s because the markets with the strongest demand from renters are also the places where developers are the most eager to build new projects. As a result, the strongest and weakest markets so far in 2016 tend to be places where some kind of surprise has upset developers’ calculations—for better or worse.

Strong despite new supply

Rents are growing quickly in a few cities, including Seattle and Nashville, Tenn., despite very high levels of new construction. “The San Francisco Bay Area, Denver and Seattle have easily been the best performing major markets this cycle,” says Jay Denton, vice president with data firm Axiometrics. “Of that group, Seattle is the only one that remains in the upper-tier of rent growth today.”

Read entire post in National Real Estate Investor here.

Find out more about our commercial real estate lending programs and contact us to discuss your funding needs.

Outlook for Apartment Loans Remains Bright

by Randybaconin Real EstateLeave a Comment on Outlook for Apartment Loans Remains Bright

Crane-construction

It’s still the best time ever to take out a loan on an apartment property – thank in part to the “Brexit” vote in the U.K.

“You could argue that this environment today is the most favorable in history to refinance or close a new loan,” says Will Matthews, vice president and co-founder of the Southeast Multifamily Group for Colliers International.

Interest rates are extremely low and investors from around the world continue to pour money into U.S. apartment properties. That’s how it’s been since the Global Financial Crisis, when central banks around the world cut their interest rates and investors fled to the safest sovereign bonds, driving benchmark interest rates downward. Every time that dynamic seems about to change, some new bad news in the world economy resets the clock, and interest rates sink again. The vote in Britain to leave the EU, held June 23, was just the latest jolt.

View entire post in National Real Estate Investor.

To find out more about our multifamily financing contact Liberty Realty Capital Group

CMBS Lenders Scramble to Comply With Looming ‘Risk Retention’ Rules

by Randybaconin Commercial Mortgage Lending, Real EstateLeave a Comment on CMBS Lenders Scramble to Comply With Looming ‘Risk Retention’ Rules

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Analysts Say New Round of Financial Oversight Rules Governing Loan Risk Could Affect Lending Rates, CMBS Volumes

New financial oversight regulations set to go into effect later this year will require lenders originating CMBS loans to include “skin in the game” by retaining a 5% slice of each CMBS deal for five years.

The new rules going into effect Dec. 24 are raising concerns in a CMBS market already reeling from a year-to-date 50% decline in overall issuance from last year, even as spreads have tightened significantly from earlier in 2016. So far this year, CMBS accounts for only 7% of the overall CRE lending market, down from 17% in 2015. At one point in 2006, CMBS accounted for nearly 50% of total CRE lending.

View entire article at Costar.com.

Find out more about our lending programs or contact Liberty to discuss an opportunity.