MBA CREF 2020 Recap

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The UES team attended MBA CREF in San Diego this week. It’s always a great meeting, chocked full of quality education, networking with clients and making new connections. The MBA does a good job of delivering market trends, forecasts for the year ahead and information that we need to help guide our environmental consulting services.

A few things that stood out this year:

1. Most leaders agree that while we’ve heard a recession is coming, we are still in a good space in terms of growth and liquidity in the market. Lenders are making better credit choices and commercial real estate professionals are focusing on making good deals that can ride out hiccups or shifts should they arise. From listening in on one panel Monday morning, several market leaders believe we are still 18-24 months away from seeing a slow to growth and decreased liquidity. Globe St.Com has a deeper dive into this particular panel and their discussions. 

2. Across the board, commercial real estate professionals are in agreement that international affairs, such as concern over the spread of the coronavirus, and the upcoming US election has the potential to impact Q4 of 2020 and the start of 2021. Speakers at MBA stated that their organizations are planning ahead for some volatility in Q4 and working to see how many deals they can close prior to November.

3. Multifamily continues to have it’s moment. And, the market is seeing a wide variety of lending players jumping in. Banks are more involved than in prior years in providing capital. CMBS is making a comeback and the ultra-wealthy are getting involved in the space through investment funds.

MBA CREF 2020 Multifamily Lenders

Lenders involved in the multifamily market in 2020

Stay tuned to the UES blog for a few more highlights from the last day!

UES Consulting Services, Inc is an environmental and engineering firm specializing in Phase I Environmental Site Assessments, Phase II Subsurface Investigations and Property Condition Assessments for Commercial Real Estate transactions. We frequently research and write on trends, market updates, news and other happenings affecting our clients and partners in the commercial real estate industry

 

 

 

Lifestyle Forward Amenities, the Digital Frontier and Multi-Family

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As our digital footprint expands, so does our innate desire to connect with and be apart of a community. Much community starts with our living environment and how we are able to connect with those in close proximity, along with the neighborhood for which we inhabit.

As mixed use multi-family continues is growth across all markets in the US, developers and planners are thinking less about privacy and isolation, and more about connecting those that will life, work and play in the space. Along with how they will interact with the retail, restaurants and other “neighbors” within their ecosphere.

The Science Behind Lifestyle Amenities and Community Building

A recent blog featured on multifamilybiz.com by author Kerry Kirby, highlights this burgeoning trend and how it looks to affect not only developers, but commercial brokers looking to lease space and place clients in these new mixed use multi-family complexes.

Kirby highlights a social psychology phenomenon called the  “propinquity effect”. Social psychologists theorize and tested the concept that physical space is the key to friendship formation as opposed to original thinking that values, opinions and beliefs were the key factors in friendship formation. As the author dives further into this concept, it’s clear that trends in more communal living spaces within a multi-family complex such as digital meet-up areas, living rooms, shared workspaces and other community building spaces are changing the way we build relationships and build community.

Putting it to Work

A great example of this lifestyle forward amenity offering is going up right in our own backyard in Kansas City, MO. The Opus Group is developing a lifestyle amenity rich luxury apartment living experience to the vibrant historic Westport area. Along with that luxury living experience, comes the opportunity for mixed use retail space marketed by Colliers International. Restaurants, retail shops and other neighborhood oriented business are being attracted to the lower levels of this complex. A welcome addition to the urban landscape.

UES Consulting Services, Inc is an environmental and engineering firm specializing in Phase I Environmental Site Assessments, Phase II Subsurface Investigations and Property Condition Assessments for Commercial Real Estate transactions. We frequently research and write on trends, market updates, news and other happenings affecting our clients and partners in the commercial real estate industry.

 

Commercial and Multifamily Originations Set a Record by Rising to New Levels

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In 2018 Multifamily and Commercial mortgage bankers closed a record $573.9 billion of loans, as stated by MBA’s 2018 Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Annual Origination Volume Summation.

And all of these factors below combined led to an eight percent increase in recorded Multifamily Lending compared to last year.

  • Growing property values
  • Low interest rates
  • Solid fundamentals
  • Strong appetites from both lenders and borrowers

Let’s Break Down the Numbers

  1. Commercial Bank portfolios led the capital source with responsibility of $174 billion loans.
  2. Then GSEs, Government Sponsored Enterprises; Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae witnessed the second highest amount of $142.3 billion.
  3. Followed by Life Insurance companies and pension funds, Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) issuers, investment funds, Real Estate Investment Trust (REITS), and mortgage REITS.

In terms of Property Types…

  • Multifamily Properties at $266.4 billion had the highest of mortgage bankers’ origination volume.
  • Followed by retail properties, industrial, health care, office buildings, and hotel/motel.

“First liens accounted for 96 percent of the total dollar volume closed. The reported dollar volume of commercial and multifamily mortgages closed last year was eight percent higher than the volume reported in 2017. Among repeat participants in the survey, the dollar volume of closed loans increased by four percent.”

Jamie Woodwell Vice President, Mortgage Bankers Association

With loan originations on the rise, the need for site assessments has never been more important. UES Consulting and our team of inspectors are well-versed in the demands of commercial and multi-family transactions and how thorough, time-sensitive Phase I Environmental Site Assessments and Property Condition Assessments can help the process run smoothly and close on time. If you are looking for a company to partner with on your Commercial Real Estate transactions of any kind, turn to our in-house engineers and environmental consultants to alleviate the burden of environmental issues and mitigate risks. 

Information by MBA, Click here to purchase the complete report.

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Multifamily Housing Market in 2019

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Checkout a summary of 2019 trends in Multifamily Housing Markets…

In Freddie Mac’s Multifamily research, they found that “performance in the multifamily market remained healthy during 2018, despite high levels of new supply entering the market. We expect this trend to continue into 2019, but with more modest growth in comparison to recent years.”

2018 ended up with solid rent growth and only modest increases in vacancy rates despite an elevated level of new supply. There are some weakness’s in individual markets and submarkets.

“New supply will remain elevated through 2019 and into 2020 but rents and vacancies will continue outperforming historical averages due to robust demand related to the rising cost of homeownership, changing demographics and consumer preferences.”

Cap rates have slightly fallen over the past couple quarters but they expect cap rates to rise in 2019 if Treasury rates increase.

“Multifamily origination volume is projected to grow to $317 billion in 2019 driven by solid market fundamentals and strong investor demand for multifamily properties.” This figure exceeds 2018’s statistic by 3.9 percent.In conclusion, “we expect 2019 to be another strong year for the multifamily industry. Homeownership affordability constraints and consumer trends will continue to drive demand, while strong rent growth will support property price growth.”

For full analysis click here.

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Commercial Real Estate Industry Booming

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