What I’m Reading Staying Power: Office CMBS distress may last quite a bit longer than initially thought according to Trepp as revenues continue to decline while expenses rise. Globe Street See Also: As employers eagerly await the Covid-19 vaccines that promise to return staff to offices after months of working from home, new...
December 9th – Balancing Act
One Big Thing California’s eviction moratorium is scheduled to expire in early February. A new assembly bill is seeking to extend it through the end of 2021. Concurrently another assembly bill is attempting to establish a framework for dispersing rental relief. (h/t Steve Sims) Connect Media Two comments here: While I’m...
December 4th – Strings Attached
What I’m Reading Strings Attached: CMBS borrowers that were granted initial forbearance in Q2 2020 are requesting another round of debt relief from servicers. However, even if granted this relief is likely to come with more stringent parameters such as additional equity contributions and personal recourse. Those who refuse or don’t...
December 2nd – The End is in Sight
What I’m Reading The End is in Sight: The Federal Reserve has told banks that they should stop writing contracts using LIBOR by the end of 2021, after which the rate no longer will be published. The current plan is that LIBOR will be fully phased out by June 30, 2023. ...
November 25th – Locked Down
What I’m Reading Locked Down: In a move that should come as no surprise, President Elect Joe Biden and his team are leaning towards extending the CDC eviction moratorium that is set to expire December 31st. Ultimately, this program is just a band aid that forces landlords to shoulder the burden...
November 3rd – Bounce Back
What I’m Reading Bounce Back: Apartment demand rebounded strongly in the third quarter outside of high-priced gateway markets. The rebound helped to stabilize the multifamily market and prevented asking rents from declining as much as would have been expected considering the historic decline in economic performance in the second quarter. Yardi...
November 2nd – Lifeline
What I’m Reading One Big Thing: A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how ESG trends are likely to provide a growing headwind for the office market in the coming years. Today, I’m going to focus on a different segment of the real estate market that I’ve followed closely for years: housing....
October 29th – Face Off
What I’m Reading Faceoff: Public employee unions (for) and commercial real estate companies (against) are spending a massive amount of money in the battle over prop 15, which would remove Prop 13 protections for most commercial real estate in California. The Sacramento Bee Lifeline: Oil demand is still struggling to recover during the...
October 19th – Color Me Skeptical
One Big Thing A Barclay’s analyst went on CNBC last week and made the claim that converting an underperforming mall to a distribution center or residential complex could reduce the value of the property anywhere from 60% to 90%. While I believe this would be the case if a top...
October 16th – In the Blocks
What I’m Reading In the Blocks: Conditions are perfect for distressed debt funds – which usually perform well during certain economic conditions, including when monetary conditions have been dramatically eased and when high-yield debt issuance is high. This according to a report on crisis-era distressed debt returns by Julian Falcioni at...