October 2009

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FDIC Real Estate Auction to Offer More Than 100 Properties in Atlanta and North Georgia

Submitted by jbonica on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 16:08

Bubblenomics

Single-Family Homes, Townhomes, Lots, Land and Commercial Properties to Be
Auctioned
ATLANTA--(Business Wire)--
J.P. King Auction Company, the nation`s leading real estate auction firm, will
manage the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation`s (FDIC) auction of over 100
foreclosed properties throughout North Georgia and greater Atlanta. The sale
will take place on October 27 and October 28, 10 a.m. daily at the Renaissance
Waverly Hotel in Atlanta. A variety of assets are available, and many of each
property type will sell absolute with no minimums and no reserves through J.P.

Is commercial real estate next to fall?

Submitted by jbonica on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 16:03

Bubblenomics

We all know about the crisis in residential real estate. But what about the commercial real estate market? Is it going to collapse as some experts and pundits are predicting? Jeremy Hobson reports.

TEXT OF STORY
Kai Ryssdal: The crisis in residential real estate we all know. That story's been out there for a good couple of years now. But even a quick listen to one of the business news channels in the last several months will have alerted you to the next big economic story.

Bank failures near 100 for year

Submitted by jbonica on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 14:50

Bubblenomics

By Greg Morcroft

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- As milestones go, it's one we could just as well live without.

This year is shaping up to be the first since 1992 to see the failure of at least 100 banks, and experts suggest we could be no more than 10% of the way through this cycle of bank collapses, which is sure to be the worst run of closures since the Great Depression.

The parade of bank failures continued on Friday as the FDIC took control of the 99th this year after the San Joaquin Bank of Bakersfield, Calif., was closed by state regulators. See story.

Commercial Real Estate Market Creates Nasty Bank Hangovers

Submitted by jbonica on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 14:46

Bubblenomics

For nearly two decades, Seattle’s economy, led by the real estate market, was on a bender. With momentary bouts of sobriety in the early 1990s and post 9/11, Seattle partied day and night. Prices rose, jobs were plentiful, cash and credit were easy.

But all great parties have to end and you wake to face the morning after, when you often struggle to remember just what you did and why. And almost instantly you can feel the regret streaming in.

Real estate's next crisis: Georgia banks are bracing for major hit

Submitted by jbonica on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 14:43

Bubblenomics

By Paul Donsky

Even as many Georgia banks grapple with bad residential real estate loans, experts say a new danger lurks: a deteriorating market for shopping centers, office buildings and other commercial property.

Most of Georgia’s 300 small, community-based banks have relatively light exposure to these kinds of loans, experts say, allowing them to watch the coming crisis from the sidelines.

But for banks already in trouble, commercial real estate losses will deepen the pain, said Jeff Davis, a banking analyst with FTN Equity Capital Markets Corp.

Tenants have upper hand in lease deals

Submitted by jbonica on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 14:39

Bubblenomics

By Roger Vincent

With the lease winding down on his law firm's Universal City offices last year, Ray Hamrick figured that he was going to have to move because his rent would be rising beyond what he could reasonably pay.

Reluctantly, he started looking for space in buildings that weren't as desirable as the sleek, 35-story high-rise on Universal Hollywood Drive that his firm had called home since the 1980s. Then the global recession took hold, and his building, the tallest in the San Fernando Valley, went into foreclosure. The lenders who got it back immediately wanted to deal.

Commercial Mortgage Limits Not Enforced

Submitted by jbonica on Fri, 10/23/2009 - 15:49

Bubblenomics

I have written several times about the problems in the commercial real estate market. Although it differs from the residential mortgage market, it appears to have overheated as well. A Bloomberg article today casts some light on one of the reasons why. Regulators failed to enforce commercial real estate loan limits on banks. Luckily, I think this is a problem easily remedied going forward: enforce regulations!

Here's the news, from Bloomberg:

BB&T Sees Trouble in Loans Tied to Southeastern Real Estate

Submitted by jbonica on Fri, 10/23/2009 - 14:20

Bubblenomics

“BB&T bank out with its earnings, came out with $0.23 a share, a penny better than Thomson was looking for. Also talked about revenue of $2.8 billion in line…. Looking for non-performing assets as a percentage of total assets increasing 2.48% as of September 30th.” — CNBC’s Squawk Box 10/19/2009

U.S. Helps Commercial Real Real Estate Lenders Pretend and Extend

Submitted by jbonica on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 16:55

Bubblenomics

Summary

FDIC published guidelines to help banks modify commercial real estate loans: help save us from this "help".

Analysis

GE investors fret over real estate holdings

Submitted by jbonica on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 16:51

Bubblenomics

By Nick Zieminski - Analysis
NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Electric Co's $84 billion real estate portfolio remains a worry for investors, who wonder if the conglomerate will have to take big write-downs to reflect the lower value of real estate debt and equity holdings.

The GE Real Estate unit was the only GE Capital business to post a loss in the latest quarter.

"People are worried about commercial real estate," said Russell Croft, vice president and portfolio manager of Croft-Leominster, which owns 263,000 GE shares.

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