CMBS

Fitch Ratings is voicing concern over new CMBS lending pools that have non-investment grade (IG) exchangeable classes, something the agency hasn't seen since the financial crisis.

Defeasance activity for US CMBS remained strong last quarter, though changing interest rates or liquidity could derail this two-year trend, Fitch Ratings said in a new report.

Fitch projects US CMBS delinquencies will continue to fall -- another 2.5-3 percent rate drop by the end of 2016 -- after hitting a six-year low at the end of 2015.

Varde Partners has issued a CMBS to refinance a portfolio of secondary UK properties, and sold the bonds to Credit Suisse.

Nearly all individuals (98 percent) who responded to the CRE Finance Council’s annual Market Outlook survey expect CMBS spread volatility to continue in 2016, reflecting a range of geopolitical and other concerns.

US CMBS issuance ended 2015 just over $101 billion, a post-recession first, according to data from research firm Trepp. That may provide some solace after 2014 failed to hit the triple digits as many had hoped, but the final tally is also significantly lower than many early predictions for 2015.

Fitch-rated underperforming CMBS loans transferred to special servicing so far this year have experienced a sharp, 38 percent decline compared with last year.

Trepp expects a 60 basis point drop in November's US CMBS delinquency rate thanks to the anticipated resolution of a $3 billion securitized loan tied to Blackstone’s purchase of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village.

Colliers International (Colliers), the US-based real estate services firm, has won its case at the Court of Appeal in London, with a unanimous verdict that its valuation of a German mixed-use property at €135 million in 2005 was correct. The latest case was the result of an appeal by Colliers following a High Court ruling last year that that it had over-valued a complex mixed-use property in Nuremberg, Germany, by €32 million.

A spate of assaults, robberies and other crimes that have raised safety concerns for residents living at the complex, near the neighboring Western Michigan University, contributing to a large appraisal reduction for the 256-unit multifamily property that is used in part for student housing.