Tag Archives: Commercial Real Estate

Realtors attending the National Association of Realtors' (NAR) Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo expressed renewed confidence in a forum on the commercial real estate (CRE) market. NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun joined several Realtor CRE specialists on a panel to discuss the economy and regulatory issues and how they impact the market. In a live audience poll, the majority of attendees said their local economy is either a little better or showing a major improvement from last year.

The percentage of banks reporting stronger demand for mortgage loans rose in the second quarter, the Federal Reserve reported, with more banks easing lending standards.

The slow pace of the economic recovery has done little to temper optimism among executives in the commercial real estate (CRE) sector, according to DLA Piper's 2013 State of the Market Survey. Eighty-five percent of executives surveyed described themselves as having a bullish outlook, the survey shows. That's a massive turnaround from the 2011 survey (the most recent previous report), when only 30 percent of respondents characterized themselves as bullish.

First-quarter commercial and multifamily loan originations decreased 36 percent quarter-over-quarter but climbed 9 percent over the same period last year, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported. According to MBA, the overall increase in commercial/multifamily lending volume was driven largely by increases in originations for hotel and multifamily properties, which rose 35 percent and 30 percent, respectively. Compared to last quarter, numbers were down, following the traditional seasonal pattern.

Commercial and multifamily originations rose 33 percent to $244.2 billion in 2012, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

Despite threats from the federal budget sequester, the nation's economy expanded "at a moderate pace" from late February to early April, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday in its periodic Beige Book. Reports on mortgage lending, the Beige Book said, "were mostly favorable" with stronger refinancing activity in New York and Atlanta. The Cleveland and Kansas City districts, according to the report, "noted a shift from mortgage refinancing to new purchases," and New York, Richmond, Dallas, and San Francisco "reported an uptick in residential mortgage loans."

Commercial real estate (CRE) prices ticked up slightly in February, according to the Commercial Property Price Indices (CPPI) released by Moody's Analytics and RCA.

A recent industry survey detects rising optimism in the commercial real estate and single-family housing sectors over the next few years. The survey, conducted by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young, finds a consensus among analysts that the real estate market will improve as transaction volumes rise and vacancies decline. "After a prolonged period of uncertainty, we're seeing a revival of investor confidence as the economy continues to recovery," said Dean Schwanke, SVP at the Urban Land Institute.

Fannie Mae issued approximately $8.2 billion of multifamily mortgage-backed securities (MBS) in Q1 2013, according to a company release.

The ongoing housing recovery bodes well for the future of commercial real estate (CRE), TD Economics (an affiliate of TD Bank) says in a recent report.