Commercial Real Estate Finance

Posts Tagged ‘commodity prices’

The fact that World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) is a publicly traded company suggests we should never be surprised when a firm, no matter how obscure or unusual, becomes a public entity.

So it shouldn’t be too much of a shock when something as traditional and salt-of-the-earth as growing lettuce receives its own trading symbol. At the end of January, that’s exactly what happened: Gladstone Land (LAND), a company that acquires and rents out agricultural real estate, completed a $50 million IPO on the NASDAQ. What I find surprising, however, is the fact that Gladstone Land intends on converting to REIT status.

To be sure, there are already niche sectors within the REIT industry–timber, cell phone towers, and one day, perhaps, even solar energy–but a firm focused on farmland real estate (and related facilities) is a REIT type I’ve never heard of. It makes sense, though. As America’s agriculture business becomes increasingly consolidated, we can expect farmland tenants to offer greater stability through their sheer size, and because of this real estate’s function, it can feasibly withstand economic contraction better than many other asset types. Read the rest of this entry »

Philip Blumberg  Addresses How Commodity Prices Effect Commercial Real Estate

KB Homes Reports on Their Eco- Friendly Luxury Condos in California

One of the major drawbacks to actually converting dollars into Chinese Yuan, is trying to get the dollars back.  The currency trades “on shore” in China, but outsiders cannot freely buy USD and sell CNY (at least on an industrial scale); traders call this the “righthand side” of the pair (the offer side of the bid/offer for USD/CNY trading; i.e. buying USD and selling CNY).  According to Bloomberg, traders are now betting the PBOC will open up the righthand side of the pair, thereby making the currency fully convertible in 2016.  This sentiment, along with recent Yuan appreciation, has begun to put pressure on commodity prices.  Needless to say, these are leading indicators for inflation and therefore have a direct impact on commercial real estate.

Read the rest of this entry »

Commercial Real Estate Week in Review for the week of February 19th to February 25th

- Goldman Sachs’s $478.5 Million Loan backing 107 Hotels is Driving Towards Default.

- Will Bank of America Be Forced to Buy Back Bad Loans After The Recent NY State Supreme Court Filing?

- Stalled Building Projects Reawaken as Lending Funds are Secured.

- Quarterly Financial Results from Vornado Realty Trust Show Strength in REIT Market. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s a lot going on, so I’ll quickly go through a couple different things. But, not before some grandiose references to antiquity.

Egypt:

As I write this note, the talking heads of western media seem to generally agree that Mubarak’s speech is not going to cut it. Read the rest of this entry »

Sorry, but I need to write an (unscientific) equation again:

i (nominal rate) – E (inflation expected) = r (real)

It seemed appropriate to write that out, given that the 5 year TIP now yields -0.48%.Yes, that’s a negative yield over 5 years; well, if the CPI stays at zero for 5 years, anyway.Remember, a TIP’s principal is adjusted by the CPI over the term of the bond.So, to be fair, today’s buyers are theoretically betting CPI will be well north of zero over the next five years. Read the rest of this entry »