Posts Tagged ‘Real Estate Roundtable’

Little-Known Legislation Could Increase Foreign CRE Investment

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

The Real Estate Revitalization Act of 2010 could open floodgates to foreign investment in U.S. commercial real estate. A little-noticed bill was introduced in Congress in January that could bring a new source of liquidity to the commercial real estate sector - foreign investment.  Legislation introduced by Congressman Joseph Crowley (D-NY) called the Real Estate Revitalization Act of 2010 would cut taxes that were introduced as part of the Foreign Investment Real Estate Property Tax of 1980 (FIRPTA).  This required foreign investors to pay as much as 55 percent on capital gains from the sale of American real estate shares in REITS and other investment vehicles.

Crowley and the legislation’s other supporters believe that repealing FIRPTA could open the floodgates to needed liquidity at a time when commercial real estate loan defaults pose a risk to the nation’s recovery.  According to the bill’s supporters, the FIRPTA tax penalizes foreign investors willing to infuse their cash into American real estate because they aren’t taxed similarly when they buy Treasury securities, corporate equities or corporate bonds.

Dan Fasulo, managing director of Real Capital Analytics, points out that foreign investors comprise only 10 percent of commercial real estate acquisitions in the United States.  Fasulo notes that “Could (removing the tax) double the amount of investment activity in the U.S.?  Sure.”

Crowley’s legislation has received little attention, although it has little vocal opposition, because it is being drowned out by Congress’ preoccupation with the healthcare reform debate.  Peter Peyser, managing principal of the lobbying organization Blank Rome Government Relations LLC, believes the legislation will likely be attached to a larger bill to assure passage this year.  “A small targeted provision like this one would need to be part of a larger package because it’s unlikely that something like this is going to gather enough steam to get through on its own.”

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Investors Are Choosing London

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

London beats Washington, D.C., as preferred destination for commercial real estate investment.London has overtaken Washington, D.C., as the preferred city for commercial real estate investment,  primarily because investors believe that prices have bottomed out and the time to get into that market is now. The British capital has overtaken the previous favorites of Washington, D.C., and New York, according to a survey conducted by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE).

“London currently offers investors the advantage of a ‘re-priced’ market,” says James Fetgatter, AFIRE’s CEO.  “The re-pricing began sooner than it did in other cities.”  London’s score is 31 points higher than the perennial favorite Washington, D.C., and 40 points ahead of New York City.  A year ago, London occupied second place, ranking four points behind Washington.  The survey of the association’s approximately 200 members was taken in the fourth quarter of 2009 and represents ownership of more than $842 billion of commercial real estate.  Of that, $304 billion is invested in the United States.

London, along with the rest of the United Kingdom, has rebounded with investment rising 56 percent from the first to the second half of 2009.  Property values rose 2.4 percent in November, the largest monthly increase in 15 years.  Savills, the real estate advisory firm, is predicting London will eclipse New York as the fastest growing global financial center.

Despite London’s success, the United States is still preferred as the “most stable and secure real estate investment environment,” according to 44 percent of survey respondents.  This is the first time the United States ranked below 50 percent in the survey.  It ranked 53 percent in 2008 and 57 percent in 2007.  Germany occupies second place with 21 percent.  In terms of price appreciation, the United States ranks first, followed by the United Kingdom and China.

The preferred property for investment is multifamily residential, followed by office, industrial, retail and hotel.

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First CMBS Under TALF Is on the Horizon

Monday, November 9th, 2009

first-cmbs-under-talf-is-on-horizonThe markets are keeping a close eye on a transaction that may jump start the commercial property debt market, even though the Federal Reserve has expressed some uneasiness with the deal.  If the transaction is successful, it could pave the way for the initial sale of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) under the government Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF).  The credit-hungry commercial real estate industry is hoping that the debt sale by shopping center owner Developers Diversified Realty Corporation will lead to additional CMBS sales.

Developers Diversified has obtained a $400 million loan from Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., which is intended to be converted into a CMBS offering through TALF.  The Fed, keeping the taxpayers’ best interests in mind, has reservations about financing the transaction since it involves a single borrower.  These are considered riskier than deals involving multiple borrowers, where the risk is spread over different borrowers, building type and even location.

“The Fed is being very conservative, very diligent in reviewing collateral and very risk-averse,” said Frank Innaurato, managing director at Realpoint LLC, a credit-ratings firm.  Currently, the Fed is reviewing the transaction, which involves 28 shopping centers with stable cash flows.  If the Fed says “no” to the transaction, Goldman Sachs is said to be considering selling the $400 million loan outside TALF.

TALF was created to revive the CMBS market, as well as jump start securitized debt markets by offering low-cost financing from the Fed so investors can once again purchase these securities.  The program lets investors borrow as much as 95 percent of the bonds’ value by pledging the securities as collateral - meaning the risk is on taxpayers if there is a default.

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Commercial Real Estate Still Troubled

Monday, July 6th, 2009

Don’t look for the country’s commercial real estate market to improve any time soon.  In fact, expect it to continue to get worse for the next year or so.  That was the conclusion from a panel at the National Association of Real Estate Editors journalism conference in Washington, D.C., that addressed the question:  “Commercial Real Estate in the Obama Era:  Next Domino to Fall?”

“The (other) shoe has dropped,” NAREIT president Steve Wechsler said of commercial real estate.  While the public commercial real estate market of publicly traded REITs likely hit bottom in March, the remaining 90 percent of the market that is private won’t bottom out until next year.6a00e551d321cb883401157034b517970c-800wi

The $6 trillion property market is split evenly between debt and equity, thanks to the explosion of securitization that occurred in the 10 years prior to the current credit crisis, said Chip Rodgers, Jr., a senior vice president of the Real Estate Roundtable.  At the end of 2008, the commercial real estate industry had $3.5 trillion of outstanding debt.  Ten years ago, the industry’s outstanding debt was $1.3 trillion.

Washington-based Real Estate Roundtable has a plan to help end the crisis that’s paralyzed practically all speculative development on the commercial side.

First, Rodgers said, the Term Asset-Backed Loan Facility (TALF) program needs to be expanded to include commercial mortgage based securities.  Rodgers expects this to restart the securitization market.

Second, the United States needs to repeal or change tax laws that have curtailed foreign investment.  Changing the laws will attract new capital to the market.

Also, accounting rules and regulations need to be amended to ensure they do not create “a pro-cyclical impact on credit capacity,” Rodgers said.  And, banks that have existing cash flow need to be encouraged to extend loans.

The panel’s third member, Jamie Woodwell, a commercial real estate researcher at the Mortgage Bankers Association, said the current real estate recession differs from the 2001 recession.  In 2001, the dot-com bust results in large amounts of office vacancies while the retail market remained relatively stable.  Vacancy rates in office were closely tied to the country’s unemployment numbers.

“This time around,” Woodwell said, retail is more closely following unemployment numbers and being hit harder than the office market.  “More firms still have (office) leases in place,” he said.

But things will change, Woodwell said.  “Real estate is a very cyclical business, especially now.”

Our guest blogger is Tony Wilbert.  He is owner of Wilbert News Strategies, a public relations firm specializing in real estate.  Prior to moving into PR, Wilbert covered real estate at several newspapers and served as editor of National Real Estate Investor.

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