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The federal bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at the beginning of September may have roiled the markets, but it has a positive side, too: It presents an opportunity to help ease the severity of the housing crisis and strengthen investor confidence, according to a paper by Glev Nechayev, senior economist for Torto Wheaton Research. While multi-family activity accounts for just a small fraction of the government-sponsored entities’ business, these companies have a massive impact on the property sector. They represent more than $300 billion, or 35 percent of the total multi-family debt through their portfolios and mortgage pools,…

It’s no surprise office property sales are down. While the 77 percent skid in the first half of the year from the same period last year was largely attributable to The Blackstone Group’s $39 billion blockbuster acquisition of Equity Office Properties Trust and the resale of many Equity Office assets to other parties last year, office sales during the first half of this year tallied just $30 billion, according to Grubb & Ellis Co.’s second quarter “Capital Markets Update.” And CBD properties accrued at a cap rate of 6.1 percent, an increase of 30 basis points from the same period…

While the retail sector netted an annual price appreciation rate in June over the same period a year ago, the increase was modest at only 0.6 percent, according to the June results of the S&P/GRA Commercial Real Estate Indices. That return is markedly lower than retail’s peak of 15.1 percent in June 2007.To that end, amid the frosty economic climate, investors are wary about all types of retail properties, according to the third quarter 2008 Pricewaterhouse Coopers Korpacz Real Estate Investor Survey. Among assets that investors are eyeing cautiously are power centers—those that feature big-box and discount retailers—although the top…

With the U.S. House of Representatives not scheduled to be in session again until Thursday, the stage today was set for lots of talk but no action, temporarily at least, on the $700 billion federal legislation intended to rescue a financial system in crisis. The House yesterday defeated the bill 228-205, triggering a record-setting drop in the Dow. President Bush pointed out that the $700 billion price tag to start restoring confidence in the financial markets, although it’s obviously sticking in many legislators’ and voters’ craws, is nonetheless smaller than the $1 trillion in value lost yesterday in the stock…

Congress has paused for Rosh Hashanah, but the game isn’t over yet. President Bush went on TV early this morning to say, “No, really, you have to do something.” Investors either believe that before long Congress will do something, or they were out looking for bargains today, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average shooting back upward, ending the day with a 485.21-point advance, a fair chunk of the 777 points it lost on Monday. Sovereign Bancorp Inc. was one of the bounce-back stocks, gaining about 70 percent, which nearly erased its loses from yesterday. Investors may have been heartened by…

The credit crunch and the downturn in the economy have had the inevitable negative impact on the real estate industry, leaving banks that have handed out construction loans facing their share of delinquencies and the like. On certain levels, however, the situation is far worse for banks with assets exceeding $50 billion or more, than smaller banks with assets under $1 billion, according to a new study involving federally insured banks by Oldwick, N.J.-based credit rating firm A.M. Best Company.For smaller banks, those with assets under $1 billion, the construction loan sector comprises a greater portion of business than it…

Early this morning President George Bush addressed the American public from the White House. Speaking before a group of reporters, the President spoke in favor of swift passage of the bailout bill slated to be taken up by the House this morning.He stressed the “bipartisan” nature of the agreement and described the legislations as ” urgently needed to address a crisis in our financial system that threatens the entire U.S. economy.” He took the position that the bill as drafted would provide the “the necessary tools and funding to help protect our economy against a system-wide breakdown.” He also noted…

In a shocking turn of events, the U.S. House of Representatives voted down the Bush administration’s proposed $700 billion financial system bailout package. The stock market tumbled in the wake of the news, with the Dow Jones index closing the day down a massive 778 points, its largest point drop ever.Hammered out in late night weekend meetings in a bipartisan effort among republican and democratic House and Senate leaders and administration officials, the “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008” aimed to stave off a crisis termed the greatest economic threat since the Great Depression. The vote was 227 to 206…

Bailout? The U.S. House of Representatives said, We don’t need no stinkin’ bailout. Just barely. Some Democrats and fewer Republicans voted aye; some Republicans and fewer Democrats voted nay. In the end, it was 228 against, 205 for. Predictably, the stock market tanked on word of the congressional cold shoulder. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 777.68 points, or about 7 percent for the day. According to Bloomberg, about $1.1 trillion in market value–phantom wealth, that is–vanished. The Dow is now down 21.86 percent year-to-date. The tech-based Nasdaq took it on the chin as well, down 199 points, or…

Lowe Enterprises Investors, the investment management affiliate of national real estate company Lowe Enterprises, has acquired a 266,000-square-foot industrial distribution facility in central Los Angeles. The $31.5 million acquisition from an institutional owner was made on behalf of an investment client. “The downtown and central Los Angeles industrial area is consistently in high demand. It is the center of the region’s food and produce industry as well as the hub of the area’s distribution netwok” Bleecker Seaman, managing director, Lowe Enterprises Investors, said in a statement. The complex, located at 2652 Long Beach Ave., is fully leased until mid-2010.The building,…