17 July: Bank Of England Meets On 1 August Inflation in the UK flatlined at the Bank of England’s target of 2.0% in the 12 months to June 2024, strengthening hopes that the Bank will reduce the Bank Rate from 5.25% to 5% when it announces its next decision on 1 August, writes Kevin Pratt. This would prompt some mortgage lenders to follow suit, bringing relief to borrowers on variable rate deals and those coming to the end of relatively cheap fixed-term deals who need to make new arrangements. Many lenders have already reduced rates in expectation of a cut…
Author: Private Lending Agent
Listen to this article While many industrial real estate analysts say the area is currently a “landlord-favored market,” CBRE Vice Chairman Bill Wolf said the second quarter saw some balance return to the market along the I-78/I-81 corridor, allowing potential tenants to find opportunities. He said that in the second quarter, tenants were able to pay about 10 percent less rent than before because vacant properties remained on the market longer. “Rents have remained stable because some landlords are prioritizing occupancy over waiting for the last nickel or dime,” Wolf said. He noted that sublease availability has increased fivefold compared…
The average mortgage rate on U.S. homes is gradually rising as older, lower-interest mortgages are being replaced by newer, higher-interest loans, according to data from the Intercontinental Exchange. (Jonathan Alcorn/Bloomberg) Alex Tanzi | Bloomberg The average interest rate on a U.S. mortgage is gradually rising as older, lower-interest mortgages are being replaced by newer loans that are more expensive to lend, according to data from the Intercontinental Exchange. According to the ICE Mortgage Monitor report, 4 million first-lien mortgages originated in 2022 and beyond have interest rates above 6.5%, with about 1.9 million of those having interest rates above 7%.…
The road to global deinflation is hitting some obstacles, suggesting that rising interest rates may continue for longer than we would like, a scenario that would be difficult for some but could benefit large U.S. banks such as JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), and PNC Financial Services Group (PNC). These big banks recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results thanks to a recovering economy, strong consumer spending and increased activity on Wall Street. America's big banks are proving to be resilient, leading the way on everything from Main Street to Wall Street. The U.S. M&A market saw 551 deals worth more…
Key Takeaways The commercial real estate market may be starting to turn around, but it's not out of the woods entirely. While the pain in the commercial real estate market may have been averted thanks to a robust labor market, recent signs of a cooling do not bode well for CRE. Interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, while beneficial for banks and property owners, could exacerbate CRE's problems if implemented after the economy has slowed significantly. Analysts say a struggling commercial real estate market could offer opportunities later this year, but cracks in the U.S. labor market pose new…
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu testifies at a state Assembly hearing on home rule petitions regarding temporary property tax divisions. Pat Greenhouse/The Boston GlobeBoston Mayor Michelle Wu on Tuesday outlined her plan to give cities the authority to temporarily raise commercial property tax rates in the state Assembly. The controversial bill drew numerous questions and skepticism from lawmakers on the Joint Committee on Ways and Means during a nearly three-hour hearing. Wu announced the idea in April, arguing it was a necessary step Boston had to take to prevent steep tax increases for homeowners. Empty office space created by the shift…
After hitting a year-high 7.22% in May, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has fluctuated, but some experts said it finally seems to be inching down. There are several companies, both public and private, prospective lenders can investigate to take advantage. After hitting a year-high 7.22% in May, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has fluctuated, but some experts said it finally seems to be inching down this month, Forbes Advisor reported on Friday. “The rate rose . . . in early July, reaching 6.95% in the first week, only to decrease in the second week,” wrote Robin Rothstein for…
Downward angle icon Downward angle icon. Creditors of a AAA-rated Manhattan building have lost more than 25% of their original investments, the first such loss since the global financial crisis, Bloomberg reported. Marianne Ayala/Insider Commercial real estate woes are triggering defaults on bonds secured by loans on prime properties. Single-asset, single-borrower CMBS are typically seen as a safe haven for bond investors. The recent stress is a sign that the sector is in serious distress as values fluctuate and loans mature. The pain in commercial real estate is spreading to the safest parts of the commercial mortgage market, with losses…
What about ease of doing business? The World Bank's latest study ranked New Zealand as the easiest country to do business in out of 80 countries.This top ranking has long seemed problematic. It may be justified in terms of the ease of registering a new business. But what happens after that?The Paris-based OECD rates New Zealand as having the most hostile regime to foreign direct investment among its 38 member countries. It also ranks in the bottom half for the quality of product market regulation. And neither assessment takes into account the bureaucratic costs and delays involved in obtaining resource…
The number of existing homes purchased by international home buyers was the lowest annually since the National Association of Realtors (NAR) began tracking the data in 2009. The number of existing homes purchased by international buyers in the year ending March 2024 fell 36% from a year earlier to 54,300, the industry group reported Wednesday in its “2024 U.S. Residential Real Estate International Transactions Report.” These home purchases represented $42 billion in sales, also down 21.2% from 2018. This decline occurred even as the average purchase price ($780,300) and median price ($475,000) for foreign buyers reached new highs on NAR…