The collapse of commercial real estate

The long-coming commercial real estate bust has arrived in the U.S. and elsewhere, a result of sky-high prices met by a severe downturn.  Prices could only work in a best-case economic scenario and large busts are now coming (see my posts on Stuyvesant Town and Capmark Financial).

This bust is certainly another major impediment to a sustained recovery – along with a host of other wild cards like unemployment, trade conflict, and oil prices. But, the most worrying aspect about the CRE market is the marks on the balance sheets of our capital-constrained banks, which do not reflect the level of distress evident in the marketplace. And since securitization plagues the CRE market, some analysts expect bankruptcy to be the only workout option for many troubled deals. You will recall, this problem with securitized assets is a dynamic which has also plagued residential real estate (see posts here and here).

The video below explains how this real estate bust is different and what it will mean for the U.S. economy and likely bank failures. (Sorry that it starts automatically. If the wrong video pops up, see the link below).