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.

With the Federal Reserve’s recently released results of its Senior Loan Officer Opinion survey for the third quarter 2010 comes both good news and bad news.
The lender survey for the third quarter 2010 reflects shifts in lender appetites, lender underwriting approaches, and availability of debt capital.
Why are REITs so seemingly attractive? Among the reasons, in no particular order, is the principal of anticipation; investors know that real estate is not overbuilt – it’s just “under-demanded, which will be self-correcting as the economy improves. Investors, anticipating a recovery in industry fundamentals want to be owners of shares rather than spectators trying to time the bottom of the market.
Much of the economic data has been coming in weaker than many experts had expected, even as companies appear to have made an impressive recovery from the Great Recession. Talk of a double-dip downturn is spreading. Bottom line--the economy that emerges from this recession may not resemble the pre-recession economic fabric. What will the economy that emerges from this recession look like?
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