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By AZ Advisory Team, February 4, 2010 8:09 pm

Commercial real estate and multifamily property mortgage loan originations were 12 percent higher in the fourth quarter of 2009 than during the same period last year, and 15 percent higher than the third quarter of 2009 according to a quarterly survey released by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Tuesday at its Commercial Real Estate Finance convention in Las Vegas.

“Commercial and multifamily mortgage originations picked up in the fourth quarter, but remain at a low level in absolute terms,” explained Jamie Woodwell, VP of commercial real estate research at MBA. “The trend shows stability coming back to the market, but the pick-up in volumes really indicates just how low origination levels had fallen.”

Alex Zylberglait provides commercial real estate investment advisory as well as research, estate planning, asset allocation, valuation, financing, special assets services, transaction advisory and commercial property acquisition and disposition services.

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By AZ Advisory Team, February 3, 2010 1:22 pm

Regent Partners, one of Atlanta’s leading real estate investment, development and services firms and TriGate Capital, a prominent national real estate investment firm announce the formation of the Regent-TriGate Property Fund I (the “Fund” or “Regent-TriGate”).

The Fund focuses on the recapitalization of real estate assets in Atlanta and the Southeast that require both capital and management expertise.  Regent-TriGate is managed by seasoned real estate professionals with proven track records in investing in and managing real estate assets and related debt. The Fund combines capital with a market leading real estate firm that has a track record of more than $1 billion in acquisition and repositioning work.

“We believe that Regent-TriGate will offer management and capital solutions to lenders and owners of large, complicated real estate assets that are in need of recapitalization,” said David Allman, Chairman of Regent Partners. “It is our belief that market participants will be looking to firms that have capital, but also have the ability to add value to real estate through intensive management and redevelopment.”

Alex Zylberglait provides commercial real estate investment advisory as well as research, estate planning, asset allocation, valuation, financing, special assets services, transaction advisory and commercial property acquisition and disposition services.

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By AZ Advisory Team, January 22, 2010 3:40 pm

Lenders Remain Cautious, but Encouraging Signs Emerge. Banks will remain the primary source of financing for commercial real estate, with the exception of apartments, which will continue to benefit from agency lending. Life insurance companies are showing renewed interest in lending, but a 2010 surge is unlikely due to capacity limitations. While traditional CMBS is not expected to become a major source of financing in the near term, the first TALF-eligible CMBS issuance was met with strong demand and paved the way for a few non-TALF deals in the weeks that followed.

Alex Zylberglait provides commercial real estate investment advisory as well as research, estate planning, asset allocation, valuation, financing, special assets services, transaction advisory and commercial property acquisition and disposition services.

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By AZ Advisory Team, January 13, 2010 12:33 pm

Looking at a report by our commercial real estate research partner, Real Capital Analytics — it says that “Foreign interest in buying US property is high and will grow in 2010. Asian investors will provide some of the newest capital in the market, but German funds and high net worth buyers from around the globe will also be active. The increased capital from Asia that has just started to emerge will particularly benefit the West Coast whereas more traditional European investors prefer the East Coast. Potential changes to the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act (FIRPTA) could remove some barriers that have discouraged foreign investment in the US. Over the past few years, just 10% of US property acquisitions have involved cross-border investors, well below the global average of 28%. A repeal of FIRPTA is unlikely, but one likely change could facilitate greater foreign investment in US REITs, yet another reason why the REIT sector looks so promising for 2010.”

Alex Zylberglait provides commercial real estate investment advisory as well as research, estate planning, asset allocation, valuation, financing, special assets services, transaction advisory and commercial property acquisition and disposition services.

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By AZ Advisory Team, December 17, 2009 2:30 pm

In a report by Reuters, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said that about the U.S. real estate that: “It is going to be a difficult situation for a period of time but it is not going to be a shock to the system. And there’s a big difference between the two.”

Meanwhile, Wells Fargo Securities said in its 2010 outlook report that  the economy will rebound, but will take a couple of years to return to levels seen a few years ago.

“Housing and commercial real estate are central to the recovery. It has been complicated by the stimulus programs. The future will be determined by the fundamentals, it is not likely to improve until employment and income improve, ” said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo. “We expect a 20 percent rebound in 2010 and 2011,” he said.

Alex Zylberglait provides commercial real estate investment advisory as well as research, estate planning, asset allocation, valuation, financing, special assets services, transaction advisory and commercial property acquisition and disposition services.

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By AZ Advisory Team, December 16, 2009 2:37 pm

Moody’s Investor Services, learning from lessons received 20 years ago, predicts in a report that U.S. life insurers will suffer a less due to commercial-mortgage losses compared to banks. The commercial real estate market last went through a crisis 20 years ago which resulted in major losses for the life insurers.

“Life insurers’ portfolios today demonstrate that they have learned from past missteps dealing with commercial real estate,” said Senior Vice President Jeffrey Berg. Right now, the sector has only moderate exposure to commercial loans and these loans were well-diversified across geographies and property types as well as these loans were conservatively underwritten and maturities were well-distributed.

Alex Zylberglait provides commercial real estate investment advisory as well as research, estate planning, asset allocation, valuation, financing, special assets services, transaction advisory and commercial property acquisition and disposition services.

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By AZ Advisory Team, December 15, 2009 11:17 pm

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. revealed today a significant increase in budget to deal with banks’ escalating woes which is at its fastest pace since 1992. The FDIC will boost its budget by 56% from $1.3 billion this year to $2.5 billion in 2010. They said thay will aslo increase staff by 1643 to handle bank failures.

“It will ensure that we are prepared to handle an even larger number of bank failures next year, if that becomes necessary, and to provide regulatory oversight for an even larger number of troubled institutions,” FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said in a statement.

Alex Zylberglait provides commercial real estate investment advisory as well as research, estate planning, asset allocation, valuation, financing, special assets services, transaction advisory and commercial property acquisition and disposition services.

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By AZ Advisory Team, December 14, 2009 11:02 pm

Bridger Commercial Funding announced today that it will resume originating new commercial real estate loans on income-producing properties. Loans made under Bridger’s new program will be underwritten to eligibility standards for securitization under the Federal Reserve’s Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, or TALF. Separately, Bridger also announced that it has hired the personnel from Whitegate Advisors, a New York-based real estate capital markets specialist firm, in order to support its new CMBS origination activity.

Alex Zylberglait provides commercial real estate investment advisory as well as research, estate planning, asset allocation, valuation, financing, special assets services, transaction advisory and commercial property acquisition and disposition services.

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By AZ Advisory Team, November 30, 2009 1:38 pm

OK, so here are some good news in terms of the desired movement in the commercial real estate sector. Thirty five (35) percent of global investors plan to increase their property allocation in their portfolios over the next two years.  This is double the seventeen (17) percent who plan to reduce it over the same period according to the Barclays Wealth and Economist Intelligence Unit (BARC.L) survey. This is because they foresee better long-term returns in real estate than from stocks and bonds.

The U.S. was rated at the top as the most popular nation for investment, with 16 percent of the global investors saying they are expecting to see the best returns here. Sixty eight (68) percent of these investors said that the opportunities are in the commercial properties. Belief that properties are now undervalued was the second most common reason cited for increasing investment.

Barclay’s survey has 2,000 respondents. Forty percent were worth 500,000 pounds to 1 million pounds. An additional 40 percent were worth between 1 million pounds and 10 million pounds. Ten percent had assets of as much as 30 million pounds and the rest were wealthier.

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By AZ Advisory Team, November 17, 2009 11:00 pm

Losses due to commercial real estate loans are what U.S. regional banks face greater exposure to according to a Fitch Ratings report. This may increase the possibility of their future ratings being downgraded. The risk is generally manageable for large financial institutions while the downgrades would be more prevalent among the regional mid-sized to smaller banks.

“The potential for further deteriorations in commercial real estate portfolios is a major contributor to Fitch’s negative outlook for the banking sector,” said Thomas Abruzzo, co-head of Fitch’s North America financial institutions group. “Loan losses are increasingly likely given the expectation for ongoing declines in commercial real estate markets,” he said in the report.

Alex Zylberglait provides commercial real estate investment advisory as well as research, estate planning, asset allocation, valuation, financing, special assets services, transaction advisory and commercial property acquisition and disposition services.