RealtyBizNews: Real Estate News
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The past 20 years have brought a skyrocketing increase in the share of assets community banks allot to commercial real estate loans, as shown by a recent study b the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Commercial real estate loans amounted to about 27% of all assets held by community banks last year, a 7% jump from the 2007 share and almost double the level of the 1990 percentage of 14.5%.
TREI Real Estate GmbH, a real estate subsidiary of the Germany-based Tengelman Group, has announced opening two new specialty retail centers under the “VENDO Park” name. The two new additions are located in Bánovce, Slovakia, and Jablonec, the Czech Republic.
Azerbaijan has just made a $286 purchase in Europe, a London office block which is their first property bought in Europe. The building of a little under 190,000 square feet has been purchased by Azerbaijan’s state oil fund, valued at $33 billion.
Real estate experts forecast increased activity in the German market, as buying property here is one of the safest investments one can make. Berlin is on top of the list of secure real estate investments, while home prices in Germany’s largest cities are on the rise, along with the number of building permits issued and home ownership rates.
CapMan Real Estate and CCP III, a fund advised by Tristan Capital Partners, have formed a joint venture that subsequently bought the PFizer AB headquarters in the Greater Stockholm area. This sale and leaseback transaction valued at SEK 166 million landed the fresh joint venture the Malten 1 building in Sollentuna.
Safety seems to be the top concern for global real estate investors as they favor properties in the US, Asia or Western Europe. The safe bets trend was identified by the latest Global Investor Sentiment Survey by Colliers International. According to the report, most international investors keep eyeing the same “safe” markets which include London, Paris, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and New York.
Henderson Global Investors has just made its first property acquisition for its German Logistics Fund, a 19,000 square meter distribution center from Bad Dürkheim. The fund announced its first closing a month ago, raising 90 million euros. The freshly bought asset was developed by Gateway Real Estate earlier this year.
The number of residential properties for sale has reached the lowest lever in this decade, while prices on the very few transactions have gone up. This is quite the opposite of what analysts, researchers and academics have predicted, as they had expected a wave of foreclosure sales to flood the market and cause prices to drop, affecting property sales for years to come.
The Norway Sovereign Wealth Fund, the largest in the world, has just announced its entry on the US real estate investment market. The $660 billion fund plans to invest $11 billion in several countries, including the USA, targeting large Class A office complexes and other conservative property assets in major cities and developed malls.
The majority of European commercial property loans that were part of secularization deals structured before the subprime crisis and which have since reached maturity in 2012 remain unpaid. Data from Fitch Ratings shows that the over 70% unpaid loans are the result of difficulties that both issuers and investors are facing.
