August 2009

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Manhattan Commercial Real Estate Office Sales Plunge 91%

Submitted by jbonica on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 17:03

Bubblenomics

By Mike "Mish" Shedlock

In Manhattan, commercial real estate office sales reach standstill.

Only three Manhattan office buildings worth more than $30 million were sold in the first half of year, as buyer and sellers failed to agree on pricing and credit stayed tight, according to a report by real estate services company CB Richard Ellis Group Inc(CBG).

"Buyers are seeking distressed pricing," said the report released on Tuesday. "Owners do not want to sell at distressed pricing, and lenders have largely withdrawn from the market."

Business is Booming for Real Estate Receivers

Submitted by jbonica on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 17:00

Bubblenomics

By Maureen Cavanaugh, Hank Crook

Fed Gets $2.3 Billion of Commercial-Mortgage Requests

Submitted by jbonica on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 16:56

Bubblenomics

By Jody Shenn

Investors asked the Federal Reserve for $2.3 billion of loans against commercial-mortgage-backed securities created before this year, an expansion from $668.9 million in its financing program’s first round a month earlier.

The central bank got no requests for newly issued bonds backed by loans on skyscrapers, shopping malls, apartments or hotels, the New York Fed said today on its Web site. That part of the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, or TALF, hasn’t been used since its start three months ago.

REITs Are Poised to Pick Up the Pieces

Submitted by jbonica on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 16:49

Bubblenomics

By ANTON TROIANOVSKI
Overleveraged private real-estate funds are gasping for money, but public property companies have been chugging down cash from the capital markets. Now, they are poised to emerge as more-dominant players when the commercial-property-market starts to recover.

Commercial Real Estate Sales Still Spiraling -- Metro-Area Warehouse and Office Space Languish As Economy Continues Down

Submitted by jbonica on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 16:46

Bubblenomics

By Don Wade

Not enough deals, not enough jobs in this economy, too many loans coming due, and too much empty space.

That's the thumbnail-on-a-chalkboard sketch of the commercial real estate market.

"I've been in the business 49 years, I've lived through a lot of cycles, and I've never seen one this bad," said Dan Wilkinson, chairman of Colliers Wilkinson Snowden.

"The people who hired me in 1960 lived through the 1930s and then they went off to war for five years and got shot at," he said. "They had it a lot worse."

Commercial real estate loans grow more distressed

Submitted by jbonica on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 16:32

Bubblenomics

Posted by: Agnes Crane

Realpoint, the ratings firm that specializes in bonds backed by commercial real estate properties, is out with its July delinquency report on loans in CMBS deals and it has lots of great data tidbits on the building pressure on distressed loans.

U.S. Banks Face More Loan Losses, SunTrust Chief Says

Submitted by jbonica on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 16:28

Bubblenomics

By Steve Matthews and David Mildenberg

The head of SunTrust Banks Inc., Georgia’s biggest lender, said U.S. financial institutions probably will report further credit losses as commercial real estate falters through next year.

“The industry is a long way from declaring any sort of victory, especially regarding credit issues,” Chief Executive Officer James Wells III said today in a speech to the Rotary Club of Atlanta. “This credit cycle has yet to play itself out. We do not expect things to improve for the banking industry in the very near future.”

Mexico Peso Falls, Erasing Earlier Gains, on U.S. Equity Slump

Submitted by jbonica on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 16:24

Bubblenomics

By Catarina Saraiva

Mexico’s peso fell, erasing earlier gains, as U.S. stocks declined after SunTrust Banks Inc. said lenders face more credit losses and commercial real estate may falter through 2010.

The peso weakened 0.8 percent to 12.9374 per U.S. dollar at 5 p.m. New York time, from 12.833 on Aug. 21. The peso earlier rose to 12.7674, the strongest since November. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.1 percent. Mexican stocks slid 1.1 percent, the most among the 89 global indexes tracked by Bloomberg.

SunTrust's CEO: Industry better, uncertainty to continue

Submitted by jbonica on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 16:19

Bubblenomics

The chief executive officer Atlanta-based SunTrust Banks Inc. said Monday the nation's banking system faces continued uncertainty, but it is “back from the brink” of disaster as the economy winds its way toward a slow recovery.

SunTrust CEO Jim Wells said at a Rotary Club of Atlanta meeting that Georgia’s banks by and large are weathering the storm relatively well, but the state’s banks will continue to see further fallout from a banking crisis that has claimed more banks than in any other state.

First National Bank in Fort Collins signs deal to shore up lending practices

Submitted by jbonica on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 16:16

Bubblenomics

BY PAT FERRIER

Federal regulators are keeping a cautious eye on First National Bank in Fort Collins, Northern Colorado's largest bank, requiring it to sign an agreement to strengthen its lending practices, particularly in commercial real estate.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said in the June 22 agreement that was made public Friday that the bank had engaged in unsafe and unsound banking practices relating to its credit underwriting and administration, commercial real estate risk management, credit risk ratings and allowance for loans and lease losses.

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