Report: Panic Overstates Commercial Real Estate Risk Staff Report from National Real Estate Investor Mar 19, 2008 2:53 PM A newly released report by CBRE Torto Wheaton Research states that future commercial mortgage defaults and losses could be overestimated threefold. The culprit? Not surprisingly, overreactions in the credit markets are to blame, according to the report. “While prices have been slow to change in the commercial real estate equity market, the commercial real estate debt markets have been driven by increasing spreads, and decreased availability of mortgage capital,â€? states the […]

WSJ Changes Its Tune David Bodamer March 11th, 2008 The Wall Street Journal had reported of late of the problems facing commercial real estate looking largely at the CMBX index, which has signaled huge defaults coming. Goldman Sachs also put a report out predicting just under $200 billion in defaults. Yesterday, though, the paper reversed course a bit, reporting that the downturn won’t be as bad for commercial real estate. One thing interesting about the article is that the WSJ used Reis Inc.’s data, which shows that retail development in […]

Commercial Mortgage Delinquencies Maintain Historic Lows By Ben Johnson – National Real Estate Investor Mar 13, 2008 1:26 PM Delinquency rates on commercial and multifamily loans ended 2007 at or near record lows for most major investor groups, according to new research by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Fourth quarter delinquency rates for commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), life companies, and government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac clocked in at or near historic lows. And for FDIC-insured commercial banks and thrifts, delinquency rates were lower at year-end 2007 than during […]

March 7, 2008   NORTHEAST WAREHOUSE MARKET GAINING MOMENTUM FROM SHIFTING TRADE PATTERNS by Laura Stone Mortimer, Senior Economist Last year was one of shifting trade flows moving from Asia into the U.S. Growth in the market share of containerized imports arriving at West Coast ports from Northeast Asian countries declined by 1.5%. The same cannot be said for East Coast ports, which experienced an increase in market share of nearly 9%, thanks to increases in all-water shipments. This is anticipated to be a structural shift in trade flows, where goods […]