Almost any problem can be solved if there’s a realistic plan and the necessary materials are at hand. But miss what you need for the repair and there’s only so far that you can go. That’s a problem facing commercial real estate right now.
There is an “historic volume of mortgage maturities,” as a recent Trepp analysis of Federal Reserve Flow of Funds data showed: $2.78 trillion in commercial loans coming due by 2027.
But will there be enough money to keep the bulk out of trouble? Up until Wednesday, the 10-year yields were moving tentatively toward 5% and have been at levels not seen since 2007. The higher Treasury yields go, the harder it is to argue for riskier investments without a lot of extra return. Shorter-term Treasury yields are even higher.
Even with a slight retreat of the 10-year yield with the Fed’s hold on interest rates and Treasury slowing expansion of planned new bond issuance, there is still abundant safety at respectable returns that becomes difficult to compete with. CRE property valuations have plummeted, with the Fed saying that after the reductions they were still elevated beyond where they should be.
Too many of the maturing loans were granted under easy money conditions and bigger amounts of leverage than are typically available at the present. Deals that need refinancing often make no financial sense because of the amount of capital needed to get new financing is prohibitive.
That is why the news on reduced funding for CRE is worrisome. Third quarter private real estate fundraising of $18.2 billion plummeted by 71% compared to the $63.4 billion of Q2, according to Preqin dataquoted by Bloomberg. Global property transactions fell from $31.9 billion in the second quarter to $26.9 billion in the third.
As the Wall Street Journal noted, CRE lending is at “historically low levels.”
“There is liquidity available,” James Muhlfeld, managing director at Eastdil Secured, told the Journal. “But it’s likely going to be more expensive, with lower leverage and with a different lender.”
All this raises the question of which projects will be able to afford refinancing — and if they can’t, who will be left holding the bag for the mortgages on those properties.
Source: GlobeSt.