Real Estate - Liberty Realty Capital Group

Moody’s, RCA: CRE Prices Top Pre-Recession Levels

October 8, 2015 by Randybaconin Real EstateLeave a Comment

Moody’s and RCA’s joint Commercial Property Price Indices (CPPI) reveal that the CPPI rose 1.6% in August, thanks in large part to a 1.8% rise in its best-performing segment, central business district. Central business district office has been the top performer for the past three months, rising 6.3%, while suburban office comes in second, rising 3%. The CPPI also topped its November 2007 peak for the first time, adjusting for inflation. It’s now 14.5% above its pre-crisis peak on a nominal basis, and 1.5% above when adjusted for inflation. Additionally, apartment prices exceeded their pre-crisis peak by 33%, with core commercial property prices about 8% higher than their previous peak. [Moody’s]

Read more at: https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/commercial-real-estate/core-commercial-segment-leads-a-rising-cppi-50820?utm_source=CopyShare&utm_medium=Browser

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Investor Competition Intensifies for Medical Office Properties

October 5, 2015 by Randybaconin Real EstateLeave a Comment

Demand for stabilized medical office buildings (MOBs) and new development is on an upswing, according to market experts, with cap rates matching pre-recession record levels.

The average cap rate for performing MOBs declined to 6.5 percent in the first half of 2015, almost reaching the record low of 6.2 percent achieved in the third quarter of 2007, according to a recent report from health care advisor firm Brown Gibbons Lang Real Estate Partners. Vacancy in the MOB sector has dropped to 10.9 percent, one of the lowest rates of any commercial property type.

The investment sales market is healthy from the demand perspective, according to the report, with 1,176 transactions completed through the first half of the year, totaling about $11.9 billion. In comparison, there were 950 transactions totaling $9.8 billion completed during all of 2014. Christopher Stai, managing director at Brown Gibbons, says among other trends, provider-based clients are conducting strategic reviews and looking closely at monetizing both core and non-core assets, transferring ownership and valuation risk, and redeploying capital towards growth opportunities and other core areas of their business, while maintaining a degree of control over the assets.

See entire article in National Real Estate Investor.

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Morgan Stanley: Crowdfunding Loans Showing Up in CMBS

October 2, 2015 by Randybaconin Commercial Mortgage Lending, Real EstateLeave a Comment

Crowdfunding has become a hit in real estate circles, providing a new way to raise capital—and a nice way for investors to get a piece of the action with as little as $1k. But who knew it would find its way to CMBS? Morgan Stanley analyst Richard Hill did some digging, discovering three loans (worth $71M total) made to Colony Hills Capital—underpinning two CMBS deals—secured against a portfolio of five multifamily properties. And here’s the kicker: this portfolio received $12M of crowdfunding on EarlyShares.com (an ad that can still be found here), Morgan Stanley says, which could signal a new trend. It’s an “untested ownership structure in CMBS,” Richard says. While it’s something to pay attention to, “the question becomes, how many of these are showing up in CMBS and, more importantly, what happens when these things go bad?” Richard says. “I really don’t know.” [Bloomberg]

Read more at: https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/other/morgan-stanley-real-estate-is-the-final-crowdfunding-frontier-50579?utm_source=CopyShare&utm_medium=Browser

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Churches Redeveloping Properties to Give Them New Life

September 30, 2015 by Randybaconin Commercial Mortgage Lending, Real EstateLeave a Comment

Image result for churches

Enter the word “church” in the keyword search box on commercial real estate listing site LoopNet and hundreds of properties will pop up for sale, from historic churches in rural areas to mega-churches in urban ones.

Many churches have little choice but to sell because they’re in or near foreclosure, often because they’re struggling with declining membership and high maintenance costs. Other churches, however, are flourishing and selling their current facilities to move to larger ones elsewhere.

Increasingly, as church leaders become more sophisticated, a third path has arisen: Teaming up with real-estate companies to redevelop their property to include mixed uses on the land. That strategy can increase revenue for the congregation while preserving the church facility.

Two weeks ago, The Collegiate Churches of New York announced it has teamed up with HFZ Capital Group, a New York-based real-estate investment and development company, to develop a mixed-use building on West 30th Street in Manhattan on land adjacent to, and previously owned by, the landmark Marble Collegiate Church.

See entire article in the Wall Street Journal.

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New Student Housing Projects Fill Up

September 28, 2015 by Randybaconin Commercial Mortgage Lending, Real EstateLeave a Comment

Students might fill up all the new beds that student housing developers are building this year. As the new school year began student housing properties were fully-occupied and posting solid rent growth.

That sets the student housing sector on a path for rent growth in the years ahead. Universities and college towns have successfully filled the extra tens of thousands of new student housing beds that were delivered in 2014 and year-to-date in 2015. Looking forward to next year, developers are planning about the same number of new beds as the market successfully absorbed this year.

“The sector remains strong and there is still opportunity for growth,” says Taylor Gunn, student housing analytics lead for data firm Axiometrics, Inc., based in Dallas. “We expect it to remain stable, if not better, than previous years.”

To read entire article visit National Real Estate Investor site.

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Cooling Tower Maintenance Not Just Good for Health, It’s Good Business

September 25, 2015 by Randybaconin Real EstateLeave a Comment

In response to the largest outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease in recent history, the New York City Council recently passed legislation that requires building owners to conduct quarterly inspections of cooling towers, which have been indicated as the potential source of the outbreak in the South Bronx, where nine cooling towers have tested positive for the bacteria that has killed 12 and affected over 120 residents.

Regular inspection and maintenance of cooling towers is not just a health issue, it is essential to insure the peak operation and extend the lifespan of this critical equipment. Preventing the growth of legionella is enough reason to take care of cooling towers, but it can also help to save money in energy and equipment costs. A dirty cooling tower needs to work harder and impacts efficiency. It can also stress the equipment, leading to breakdowns.

Read entire article here in National Real Estate Investor.

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