[bratticus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('basil_hayden', 'B')rat - You may have misunderstood (or I may have).

[mattduke]

See the nature of government intervention yet?

link

[3aidlillahi]

Sounds good at first, that they'll be freeing up some of the supply with renters. But this could be a very slippery slope towards complete government control of the housing market, like in Cuba. Except we won't have a chicken in every pot.

[Polemic]

"On Sept, 1, 1894, we will not renew our loans under any consideration. On Sept. 1st we will demand our money. We will foreclose and become mortgagees in possession. We can take two-thirds of the farms west of the Mississippi, and thousands of them east of the Mississippi as well, at our own price... We may as well own three-fourths of the farms of the West and the money of the country. Then the farmers will become tenants as in England ..." 1891, American Bankers Association, as printed in the Congressional Record of April 29, 1913

The bankers, working hand in glove with the government, will own the majority of American homes before this is over.

[Revi]

The bankers won't want to own all that real estate. It's expensive to own a house, and there will be all sorts of problems with the McMansions that they will end up with.

Good luck with it I say. If they want all that real estate, let them have it.

[katkinkate]

The real value is in the land. I'm sure the banks wouldn't mind owning large tracts of land that could, one day, be worth a lot more than now.

[mos6507]

When you buy a house, the bank really owns it until you make the final payment. They can do whatever the hell they want with it if you fall into foreclosure. Nothing nefarious about it other than the fact that such a huge number of people allowed themselves to get screwed.

[bratticus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Foreclosures loom over East Bay hotels
Pleasanton Sheraton and Coliseum Suites in Oakland have defaulted on mortgages

By George Avalos
Staff Writer
InsideBay
January 29, 2009

Two East Bay hotels that boast prominent locations are facing foreclosures on mortgages for the properties, making the operations some of the newest casualties of a widening economic debacle.

The owners of the Sheraton Pleasanton Hotel, a 170-room facility in Pleasanton next to Stoneridge mall; and the Coliseum Suites, a 293-room hotel near the football-baseball-basketball complexes in Oakland, have tumbled into defaults on their mortgages, according to Alameda County property records.

... skip ...

"The whole market is a disaster," said Richard Swig, a principal executive with RSBA & Associates, a partner in the AG Inn at the Mall organization that owns the Sheraton Pleasanton. "It's a bloodbath."

The problem for the Sheraton? Business activity in the Pleasanton- Livermore- Dublin- San Ramon region in the form of meetings, conferences and travel has virtually vanished.

... snip ...

[wisconsin_cur]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('bratticus', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('basil_hayden', 'B')rat - You may have misunderstood (or I may have).

[bratticus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Trump Tower Tampa fated for foreclosure?

James Thorner
(Un)RealEstate
January 21, 2009

The fading hopes of Trump Tower Tampa just got fainter.

A Tampa bankruptcy judge has ruled that Colonial Bank, owed $3.5-million by tower developer SimDag LLC, can proceed with its foreclosure against the project’s riverfront lot at 100 S. Ashley Drive.

SimDag filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June, freezing the foreclosure action. But earlier this month Judge K. Rodney May granted the Alabama bank permission to pursue its case.

The 1.5-acre property, which SimDag said is worth at least $15-million, could be seized or auctioned by the bank as part of the foreclosure.

Trump Tower was supposed to be the region’s tallest skyscraper, but could never get a $200-million construction loan. Its namesake, New York mogul Donald Trump, canceled his licensing agreement with the project in September.

[bratticus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Credit conditions tighten for shopping mall developers

Ronette King
The Times-Picayune
January 31, 2009

... skip ...

"This is the first time we've had liquidity problems at the same time as a slowdown in economic activity," said Thomas Cunningham, vice president and associate director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. The Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates and invested in mortgage-backed securities to free up lenders' cash. However, those moves have not prompted a flood of lending.

"The commercial paper markets aren't functioning," Cunningham said. "One of the problems is that counter-parties don't trust each other."

... skip ...

The consumer spending slowdown that began in August continued into the all-important holiday shopping season, Maurin said, adding that 2008 "may go down as the worst holiday shopping season ever." Last year, roughly 148,000 retail locations closed nationwide, the highest level since 2001, when 151,000 doors shut, Maurin said.

... snip ...

[bratticus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Foreclosure wave seen for commercial buildings

Jeff Collins
Lanser on Real Estate
OCregister
February 7th, 2009

A wave of foreclosures will hit the commercial market in late 2009. Commercial property values already have fallen 20% to 30% and sales volume has dropped 70%. Cap rates will rise to 9% and above.

That’s the assessment of O.C.’s newest commercial real estate guru, Glen Esnard, who came to Santa Ana in June as Grubb & Ellis’ president of Capital Markets. There’s a lot of new talent coming to O.C. as the result of the merger a year ago that resulted in Grubb’s headquarters moving from Chicago to Santa Ana.

According to a Grubb news release, Esnard is the former president of brokerage services at Colliers International. He came to Orange County after nearly 30 years of commercial real estate experience. In the newly created position as capital markets chief, Esnard is responsible for directing Grubb & Ellis’ investment brokerage business, which includes its Institutional Investment Group and Private Capital Investment Group. We asked him about his recent forecast that commercial foreclosures will soon rise.

Us: You recently forecast a surge in foreclosures in the commercial real estate sector. When will this occur and how bad will it get?

Glen: We anticipate the first significant waves of foreclosure activity to hit as we move into the second half of 2009. It is difficult to anticipate the magnitude. However, one of our benchmarks is CMBS loans (commercial mortgage-backed securities) that originated in 2005-2007.

Due to several factors, not the least of which was that they originated at the peak pricing point in the cycle, we view them as the loans most vulnerable to foreclosure. There are roughly $50 billion of such loans due in 2009 in the CMBS sector alone. This is where we believe the surge will commence.

Us: What types of properties will be affected?

Glen: Clearly all property types will be impacted, however we see the greatest vulnerability in hotels, retail, office then apartments, in that order, although currently apartment properties seem to have an edge based on direct lender feedback. Also at high risk are properties currently under development that started the process before 2008.

... snip ...

[bratticus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Queens Mall Faces Foreclosure

NYT
February 4, 2009

QUEENS, NY-The Shops at Atlas Park are facing foreclosure from two French banks-- Calyon and Société Générale--which own its $128-million mortgage. The property holders and managers, Atco Properties and Management, acknowledged that they were relinquishing the property and would no longer manage it.

... snip ...

[bratticus]

And now for something completely different.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]As sales skid, shoppers hold on to day at the mall

By ASHLEY M. HEHER
Associated Press
February 11, 2009

... skip ...

Already one mall in Florida has been foreclosed on, and experts predict that others will be forced to close as their tenants shutter their doors in the recession.

[Ferretlover]

If the Mall of America shuts down, I think that can be considered a Big canary!

[shortonoil]

bratticus said:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '&')quot;The commercial paper markets aren't functioning," Cunningham said. "One of the problems is that counter-parties don't trust each other."

[bratticus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]CMBS Defaults, Delinquencies Tripled Last Quarter, Reis Says ... Defaults and late payments on property loans sold as commercial mortgage-backed securities tripled to 1.8 percent of outstanding balances in the first quarter and may rise to the highest in almost two decades, Reis Inc. said today.

[bratticus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]US commercial mortgage delinquencies hit 11-year high ... Commercial mortgage delinquencies in the U.S. climbed to the highest level in at least 11 years in April as scarce credit made it difficult for landlords to refinance loans, according to property research firm Trepp LLC.

[bratticus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Percentage of Lloyd Center is for sale -- Mall’s owner, Glimcher Realty Trust, needs cash to pay down $392 million in debt

... General Growth Properties had about $27.3 billion in debt it couldn’t handle. It was the largest single collapse of a real estate portfolio in United States history.

[Anjorni]

I find it interesting that I havent heard nearly as much on the commercial R.E. front as i did regarding residential R.E. when T.S.H.T.F. there...

Isnt there much larger problems, as well as much more money at stake with commercial R.E.?