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.

Year-to-date issuance of commercial mortgage–backed securities ($56.7 billion) has exceeded the entire amount ($54.3 billion) issued in 2012 and is well on its way to reaching $80 billion or higher.
U.S. job growth was reported to be 169,000 in August. All in all, the jobs numbers do not add a lot of directional clarity given all the things that are still on our plate, including Syria, U.S. budget talks, and the debt ceiling, among others. Everyone wants to know when QE3 will “start to end” and tapering will begin; your guess is as good as ours.
With interest rates up over 100 basis points since May 1, it may be time for a stress test aimed at assessing the sensitivity of your portfolio to recent and expected future rate increases. You can be sure your lender is already doing one.
Anne Kavanagh, global head of asset management and transactions for AXA Real Estate, talks about ways to lay a solid academic foundation for a real estate career—and the management lessons she employs today.
Real Estate Research Corporation recently released its second-quarter 2013 survey of institutional participants in the commercial real estate market. With the exception of suburban office and multifamily, investment conditions improved quarter over quarter, reflecting the view that real estate remains an attractive investment alternative.
According to a report issued by Trepp last week, the payoff rate of maturing commercial mortgage–backed securities loans continues to improve. An incredible 74 percent of CMBS loans reaching their balloon maturity last month were repaid in full, up 15 percent month over month.
The Aon Risk Survey looks at the top current and future risks its clients face. The top risk continues to be an economic slowdown and a slow recovery, while cash flow and liquidity ranked at the low end for both the present and future.
Growth in new construction in the United States remains muted, as both business generally and real estate specifically wait for growth in the economy. The Architecture Billings Index—a proxy for future construction—declined 1.3 points to 51.6 in June while global sales of cranes have declined 16 percent from 2008’s level, with 65 percent of new sales in China.
While many of us were trying to “out-parse” each other as we dissected the public ruminations of the Federal Reserve on the path of QE2, the capital markets seemed to have voted with their feet. As of mid-July, the national average 30-year fixed rate home mortgage was priced at 4.51 percent, its highest level since July 2011.
Wall Street seems to be experiencing something between a “summer swoon” and a bad reaction to a visit to the house of mirrors, as it continues to parse, re-parse, and parse once again the all too numerous statements by members of the Federal Reserve’s hierarchy.
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