Analysis on Tapering QE3 by Bill McBride- Not until December but #Multifamily rates jumped 45bp anyway

Bill McBride over at Calculated Risk stares at this stuff all day and has a pretty good track record reading the Fed’s tea leaves. He believes that actual ‘tapering’ of QE3 purchases most likely won’t start before December although there is a slight possibility that it could happen in September if…..

  • 3rd Qtr. GDP rose enough to make 2013 growth look like it will hit the low to mid 2% range.
  • Unemployment would have to dip enough to make it likely to get down to 7.2%-ish by year end.
  • Inflation has to be increasing. Currently the trend is in the wrong direction and Q1 produced only .3% which is well below the 2% annual the Fed Wants.

See Bill’s analysis here: Analysis on Tapering QE3 I highly recommend following Bill’s blog and this is just one of several posts in the last week on Fed comments around the end of tapering. Here’s the inflation chart he posted last week showing four different measures of inflation, note the trend since the beginning of the year:

US inflation measures 1990 to May 2013
Click on image to go to Calculated Risk article with chart.

Of course none of the Fed’s comments were interpreted this way by bond traders, what they heard was: It’s the end of the Continue reading Analysis on Tapering QE3 by Bill McBride- Not until December but #Multifamily rates jumped 45bp anyway

ULI Biz Barometer: Apartment building invesment sales vaulted last month, bouyed otherwise sagging #CRE sector.

The Urban Land Institute’s April Real Estate Business Barometer reports that apartment building investment sales were strong enough to pull the entire sector up from last month’s slump while CRE prices are at four year highs.  Condominium sales are also at a 5-1/2 year high with strongly increasing prices.

Apartment Building Investment and Commercial Property Sales April 2013

“Overall, 65 percent of the key Continue reading ULI Biz Barometer: Apartment building invesment sales vaulted last month, bouyed otherwise sagging #CRE sector.

FHFA’s DeMarco re-affirms cutting Fannie and Freddie apartment building loan volume.

As reported by CoStar: “Given that the multifamily market’s reliance on the enterprises has moved to a more normal range, to move forward with the contract goal, we are setting a target of a 10% reduction in multifamily business new acquisitions from 2012 levels,” Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said. “We expect that this reduction will be achieved through some combination of increased pricing, more limited product offerings and tighter overall underwriting standards.”

Fannie and Freddie Apartment Building Loans as percent of multifamily originations
Source: www.multifamilyexecutive.com/

While 10 percent doesn’t sound like much, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac combined to finance about $62.8 billion in multifamily deals last year, meaning about $6 billion in liquidity will Continue reading FHFA’s DeMarco re-affirms cutting Fannie and Freddie apartment building loan volume.

New Stats from HUD/Census apartment building finance survey

HUD and the Census Bureau released the latest version of the Rental Housing Finance Survey. The “Survey fills an important gap in our understanding of who owns multifamily rental housing – mostly individuals, not large companies — and how multifamily rental housing is financed, especially as the structure of finance is changing.  In light of recent changes in the availability of capital for rental housing, the Rental Housing Finance Survey also provides important insight about the financial health and stability of multifamily housing properties.” said Erika Poethig, HUD’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development.

2012 Rental Housing Finance Survey

This is one table from the xls on the Census Bureau’s site here. Note the tabs on the bottom which have the data broken out by different types.

A few bullet points from HUD’s release linked at the top of the post:

Fannie, Freddie list top Apartment Building lenders for 2012.

Multifamily Housing News has lists of Fannie Mae’s (here) and Freddie Mac’s (here) top lenders and products for 2012. First Fannie’s:

Fannie top Apartment Building Lenders for 2012

And Freddie’s:

Top Sellers Nationwide—Volume

  1. CBRE Capital Markets—$6.2 Billion
  2. Berkadia Commercial Mortgage—$3.6 Billion
  3. Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital; Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.—$2.4 Billion
  4. Walker & Dunlop, LLC—$2.3 Billion
  5. NorthMarq Capital, LLC—$1.9 Billion

Top Seller by Freddie Mac Multifamily Region

  • Southeast Region: Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, Richmond, Va.
  • Central Region: CBRE Capital Markets, Dallas, Texas
  • Western Region: CBRE Capital Markets, Newport Beach, Calif.
  • Northeast Region: Beech Street Capital, LLC, New York, N.Y.

Fannie grew their small loan volume by Continue reading Fannie, Freddie list top Apartment Building lenders for 2012.

Compare all mortgage rate indexes back to 1990 and beyond. Handy website and tool.

One of my clients who does distressed debt pools shared this link to a site that has mortgage rate index history and a tool to compare them. Very handy for deciding on an index or between competing mortgages. Also helpful research if you’re planning to sue over the LIBOR rate rigging scandal.

mortgage x dot com database

Continue reading Compare all mortgage rate indexes back to 1990 and beyond. Handy website and tool.

MBA: GSEs vital in Ensuring Liquidity and Stability in apartment building investment finance.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is out today with a white paper “Ensuring Liquidity And Stability: The Future Of Multifamily Housing Finance And The Government-Sponsored Enterprises“. (or see the MHN exec sum here) The paper highlights the role of the GSEs (Government Sponsored Enterprises, i.e. FNMA ‘Fannie Mae’ and FHLMC ‘Freddie Mac’) in today’s multifamily finance market and presents five recommendations for the future making their points with a set of charts that demonstrate the size of their role in multifamily as well as the very low amount of bad loans they’ve made in the sector.

  • Our nation’s housing policies should reflect the importance of multifamily rental housing, the range of capital sources that support this market, and the need for liquidity and stability in all market cycles.

Apartment occupancy has been growing while single family has been falling

GSE lending has been the largest part of meeting multifamily financing needs Continue reading MBA: GSEs vital in Ensuring Liquidity and Stability in apartment building investment finance.

The State of US Commercial Real Estate, Single Family and Apartment Building Investment Markets. By Tom Barrack, Colony Capital

Tom Barrack of Colony Capital on what’s really happening in US real estate from an investor’s perspective. The clearest, most cogent look at the state of commercial, multifamily and single family markets today and where the opportunities are. The first five and a half minutes is about Europe and the bottom line there is don’t but after that it is all gold. If Tom wanted to be one of those real estate ‘gurus’ he could package this video with a big notebook and some advertising and sell it for $10,000- and it would be better than any of the other stuff out there. And you get it for free. I’ve watched three times and get an extra little nugget each time.

The state of real estate in the US, commercial, single family and apartment building investment
Click on the image to view the Bloomberg video.

The big takeaway for me is that (temporarily at least) Continue reading The State of US Commercial Real Estate, Single Family and Apartment Building Investment Markets. By Tom Barrack, Colony Capital

20% of apartment building sales this year were tax assessed for more than their selling price. – Dupre+Scott

Are you reviewing the property tax assessments on your apartment building investments every year? In Seattle apartment research providers Dupre+Scott found that “this year almost 20% of the sales were assessed for more than they sold for. They were over-assessed by an average of 22%”.

In their video narrated by the xtranormal sounding ‘Kate Gardens’ she says: “With apartment prices climbing so much in the past year, we didn’t think many properties would be assessed for more than they sell for”. But their research shows that’s not entirely the case.

Real Estate taxes as percent of apartment building investment Effective Gross Income

“… between 2000 and 2008 the average apartment was assessed for only 70 to 80% of what it sold for. Then things changed. In 2009 and 2010, the average property sold for less than its assessed value. And even though assessed values make more sense today, compared to prices, they are still higher than they used to be”.

OK that’s Seattle you may be thinking but the article gets even better Continue reading 20% of apartment building sales this year were tax assessed for more than their selling price. – Dupre+Scott

Good News and News: Apartment Q3 update web conference replay now posted from Marcus & Millichap

Good presentation on the current national apartment building investment sector from Marcus & Millichap. New supply remains constricted except for a few cities, they didn’t mention any names *cough Seattle cough* but if you’re in one of them and tracking the pipeline it’s easy to read between the lines.

Apartment Building Investment Market Improvement Expected to Continue

Another interesting trend is that Continue reading Good News and News: Apartment Q3 update web conference replay now posted from Marcus & Millichap