Stephen Blank

Stephen R. Blank joined ULI in December 1998 as Senior Fellow, Finance. His primary responsibilities include: expanding ULI’s real estate capital markets information and education programs; authoring real estate capital market commentary; participating as a principal researcher and adviser for the Emerging Trends in Real Estate series of publications; organizing and participating in real estate capital markets programs at ULI events worldwide; and participating in industry meetings, seminars, and conferences. Prior to joining ULI, Blank served from December 1993 to November 1998 as Managing Director, Real Estate Investment Banking of Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. His responsibilities included: structuring, underwriting, and executing corporate financings including initial public offerings of common and preferred shares, unsecured debentures, and convertible bonds; property acquisitions, dispositions, and financing; and financial advisory services including mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings, and recapitalizations.

See what lender appetites, lender underwriting approaches, and availability of equity capital are today.
The Commercial Mortgage Alert Trepp weekly survey of 15 active portfolio lenders trended higher with average spreads up 8 basis points (0.08 percent) between September 3rd and September 17th. During the period, 10-year Treasury bond yields declined 14 basis points, with average all-in cost equal to equal to 4.89 percent.
According to an analysis in Bloomberg Businessweek (July 26 – August 1, 2010), home prices in Asian cities, together with some Scandinavian countries, significantly increased during the first quarter 2010 as compared to the same period in 2009. How did housing prices in Europe and the United States compare?
While most economic statistics released recently continue to paint a mixed and uneven picture, that is better than the previous run of consistently sluggish data that so dominated over the summer. Nevertheless, there is a subtle reassessment underway whereby consumers and companies consider a downgraded outlook for the rest of the year and into 2011.
The core of the Basel III regulations is the requirement that banks maintain equity (or “Tier I Capital”) equal to 6.0 percent of total assets, an increase of 4.0 percent over current requirements. Banks must also maintain a capital conservation buffer equal to 2.5 percent, thereby providing an overall equity requirement of 8.5% of total assets. How are the U.S. banks poised for the change?
The Federal Open Market Committee, concerned about continued weakness in the pace of economic recovery, noted at the end of its meeting today that it “will continue to monitor the economic outlook and financial developments and is prepared to provide additional accommodation if needed to support the economic recovery and to return inflation, over time, to levels consistent with its mandate.”
The Commercial Mortgage Alert Trepp weekly survey of 15 active portfolio lenders continued to trend lower with average spreads down 5 basis points (0.05 percent) between September 3 and September 10. During the period, 10-year Treasury bond yields increased 4 basis points, with average all-in cost equal to equal to 4.95 percent.
The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book Economic Survey confirmed what many already suspected: the pace of economic recovery is slowing and it is becoming more likely that the current recovery will be “jobless”, which is bad news, especially for the real estate economy.
Fitch Ratings prediction from earlier in the year that commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) delinquencies would reach 12 percent by year-end is unfortunately looking “spot on” as delinquencies reached 8.48 percent as of August 31, 2010, an increase of 23 basis points (0.23%) as compared to July 31, 2010.
The Commercial Mortgage Alert Trepp weekly survey of 15 active portfolio lenders continued to trend lower with average spreads down 5 basis points. During the period, 10-year Treasury bond yields increased 9 basis points. Spreads in the August 31 Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick-Goldman fixed and floating mortgage rate survey came in slightly.
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