Watching Global Capital Markets for Clues on Real Estate Performance
August 27, 2014 — On July 31, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 317 points, erasing all of 2014’s gain, mainly on news that Argentina would default on part of its debt for the second time in 13 years. But just three weeks later, even as the Argentina situation worsened, the Dow recovered from its initial loss and crossed the 17,000 mark again.
Real Estate Advisors Consider Effects of Dodd-Frank Implementation
June 23, 2014 — Dodd-Frank, the most sweeping financial industry reform since the Great Depression, is aimed at banks and investment banks, but it also has big implications for commercial real estate investment managers, some of which are still in the process of being clarified.
What’s Behind the Interest Rate Slide?
May 19, 2014 — Last summer, the Federal Reserve’s then-chairman Ben Bernanke suggested that interest rates would probably start rising if unemployment dropped to 8.5 percent and inflation remained in the 2 percent range. At the time, rates bumped up on news that the Fed would start tapering its bond buys, then at $85 billion per month. So naturally, real estate and financial experts have been predicting interest rate increases throughout 2014. Unemployment has fallen to the 6.5 percent threshold, inflation remains low, and markets have held up under the Fed’s continuing tapering.
CMBS Volume Falls Short of Predictions, But Delinquencies Fall Faster
April 28, 2014 — Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) issuance in the first quarter of 2014 shows a market easing off its record pace, but still on track for a very strong year. At the same time, delinquencies have fallen tremendously in the past year and particularly in the past few months, while some advisors are saying the strong investor yields of the past year may be behind us. With market indicators pointing in more than one direction, it will be interesting to see how CMBS volumes and yields play out over the next several months. What’s your prediction?
Who Moved My Capital Source? Adapting to Change in Real Estate Investment Advisory
April 21, 2014 — Real estate investment advisors are skilled at foreseeing and adapting to changing conditions in markets that can affect property yields. It remains to be seen how well firms will adapt to evolutionary change of another sort: Traditional capital sources are facing long-term decline, and the investor types picking up the slack have different ways of approaching the market. To thrive over the long term, investment managers must develop systems for serving new client types, without abandoning their still-active client base in the process.