Commercial Real Estate Crisis May Rival '90s Disaster

Uncertainty is the 'new normal' in America

(NEWSER) - For many Americans, "recovery" feels a lot like recession—and it may take a decade for that to change, finds the New York Times . At the current rate of job creation, for instance, it would take nine years to recapture jobs lost thus far. Home prices, meanwhile, are down 20% since 2005; even assuming 2% inflation, it would take 13 years for the market to reach pre-crisis levels. Everywhere, offices sit empty. More»

Another mortgage-backed securities market gets into trouble

(NEWSER) - Just as the economy starts to recover, a second mortgage disaster may be looming. The commercial real estate sector is tanking, with many properties unable to generate enough cash to make mortgage payments. Lo and behold, those commercial mortgages have been sewn into securities—comparable to the packages of home mortgages that set of the financial crisis last year—in a $700 billion market where delinquency rates are skyrocketing. More»

(NEWSER) - Executives have taken a lot of blame for the financial crisis, whether for focusing on short-term gains in stock price or placing too much faith in ultra-complex financial instruments, writes Bradford Plumer for the New Republic. But what about the business schools that taught them to manage that way in the first place? With Wall Street in ruins, MBA programs are re-examining priorities. More»

Proposal does does little to address securitized mortgages

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration’s foreclosure-prevention plan contains more carrots than sticks, relying heavily on incentives designed to prod mortgage servicers to modify at-risk loans, the Wall Street Journal reports. The plan offers monetary rewards to mortgage companies that lower interest rates on delinquent mortgages, and reduces principal for borrowers who stay current on their payments. More»

Slowdown plus tough credit slams office market

(NEWSER) - When the commercial real estate market was hot, the sky seemed to be the limit, and increasingly complicated financing arrangements were common. Now the combination of economic crisis and credit freeze has exposed the market's precarious underpinnings, which resemble the pitfalls that brought the residential real estate sector to its knees. One analyst tells NPR: "I call it the commercial real estate of the subprime loan." More»