What I’m Reading Tangled Web: As malls continue to struggle, their financing structures – which have only grown more complex over time – are making restructuring particularly challenging. This is perhaps the biggest downside of using CMBS, especially when layered with other forms of financing. When you borrow from a bank...
November 10th – Shot in the Arm
One Big Thing Like me, most of you probably woke up yesterday morning to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine news from the AP: Pfizer Inc. said Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine may be a remarkable 90% effective, based on early and incomplete test results that nevertheless brought a big burst of optimism...
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 23rd – Walking Away
What I’m Reading Walking Away: Trepp researchers parsed special servicer notes on distressed real estate backed by CMBS loans and found a substantial number of borrowers are willing to give assets back to lenders if defaults aren’t cured. As you can probably imagine, most of these are in the hotel and...
October 20th – Out of Date
What I’m Reading Out of Date: According to JLL, 78% of all cold storage warehouses are at least 20 years old and the average age of a US cold storage facility is 42 years old. This is a problem in an industry where the technology has changed so dramatically in recent...
October 13th – Mind the Gap
One Big Thing Over the past couple of months, it has become fairly obvious that another round of support will not be forthcoming from the federal government – at least not until after the election. Given our recent economic struggles, conventional wisdom dictates that this sort of news would send...
October 12th – Hanging On
What I’m Reading Hanging in There: After showing signs of deterioration when enhanced UI ended, the NMHC Rent Payment Tracker is – remarkably – at exactly the same level that it was at in 2019 for the first week of October. NMHC The Great Divide: Pricing expectations between sellers and buyers have continued...
October 6th – Wipeout
What I’m Reading Wipeout: Los Angeles office leasing has ground to a near-halt, down 61% year-over-year. Commercial Observer Breaking Point: With studios moving blockbuster releases back to 2021, movie theaters are among the many businesses that do not have a clear path to recovery. CNBC Resilient: Back when the pandemic shutdowns began, dire predictions of...
October 5th – The Empire Strikes Back
What I’m Reading The Empire Strikes Back: Despite a persistent narrative about California being a net COVID loser, the metros with the largest apartment rent increases in the 3rd Quarter of 2020 were Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, according to RealPage, Inc’s quarterly report on effective asking rents. California’s denser and...