commercial mortgage financing - Liberty Realty Capital Group

Outlook for Apartment Loans Remains Bright

July 7, 2016 by Randybaconin Real EstateLeave a Comment

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

June 24, 2016 by Randybaconin Commercial Mortgage Lending, Real EstateLeave a Comment

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.

Day of Reckoning Comes for U.S. Shopping Malls Laden With Debt

June 20, 2016 by Randybaconin Commercial Mortgage Lending, Real EstateLeave a Comment

Suburban Detroit’s Lakeside Mall, with mid-range stores such as Sears, Bath & Body Works and Kay Jewelers, is one of the hundreds of retail centers across the U.S. being buffeted by the rise of e-commerce. After a $144 million loan on the property came due this month, owner General Growth Properties Inc. didn’t make the payment.

The default by the second-biggest U.S. mall owner may be a harbinger of trouble nationwide as a wave of debt from the last decade’s borrowing binge comes due for shopping centers. About $47.5 billion of loans backed by retail properties are set to mature over the next 18 months, data from Bank of America Merrill Lynch show. That’s coinciding with a tighter market for commercial-mortgage backed securities, where many such properties are financed.

Read the entire article in National Real Estate Investor

Mind The Gap

June 13, 2016 by Randybaconin Real EstateLeave a Comment

Falling Revenue At Retailer Creates Uncertainties For CMBS Loans

231 securitized commercial mortgages, with a balance of $13.9B, are now exposed due to the struggling retailer GAP. According to data obtained from Morningstar Credit Ratings, more than half of the loans are backed by collateral where leases with Gap expire within the next two years.

32 properties with a combined balance of $819M could have their occupancy level fall below 80% if Gap vacates. However, the vast majority are offset by the relatively small space the retailer occupies, with only 14 locations compromising more than 20% of gross leaseable area.

Read entire article on The Gap at Bisnow.com

Crowdfunding Fills Construction Lending Gap Left by Banks

May 31, 2016 by Randybaconin Commercial Mortgage Lending, Real EstateLeave a Comment

Crowdfunding websites are becoming an important piece of the real estate financing puzzle, especially for apartment developers who need a little extra debt or equity to complete their plans.

“Certainly from where they started, the growth of these crowdfunding portals seems exponential,” says Lee Weaver, senior vice president for Northmarq Capital, a commercial real estate debt and equity provider.

View entire article in National Real Estate Investor

To find out more about commercial mortgage financing options contact Liberty Realty Capital.

SoCal Facing Possible Electricity Shortage This Summer

May 19, 2016 by Randybaconin Real EstateLeave a Comment

Remember the brownouts of 2001? It could happen again, according to Steve Berberich, chief executive of California Independent System Operator (ISO), the state’s grid manager. He told the San Diego Union-Tribune that power plants are expecting a shortage of natural gas this summer, particularly during hot days when gas-fueled power plants need to meet peak demand. Berberich explained this potential shortage is due to Southern California Gas (SCG) taking the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility offline after one of the company’s 115 wells leaked, forcing thousands of residents in nearby Porter Ranch to flee their homes. Pictured above are equipment and machinery at Southern California Gas Co’s SS25 natural gas well near Porter Ranch, which is part of the Aliso Canyon facility, where a leak was discovered Oct. 23, 2015. He says the ISO has moved quickly to put new mechanisms in place to reduce the impact of gas curtailments on the reliability of electricity, but urged SoCal residents to respond to calls for energy conservation on days “we call a Flex Alert.”

Read entire article at Bisnow.com.

To see more information about commercial real estate financing contact Liberty Realty Capital.