Too Much Office Space Spells Big Trouble

by Dollars and Sense

The next big financial time bomb could well be commercial real estate. Vacancy rates have skyrocketed across the country, rental income is down, and many commercial investors will need to refinance massive loans in the still frozen credit markets.

From the NY Times:

Vacancy rates in office buildings exceed 10 percent in virtually every major city in the country and are rising rapidly, a sign of economic distress that could lead to yet another wave of problems for troubled lenders.

With job cuts rampant and businesses retrenching, more empty space is expected from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles in the coming year. Rental income would then decline and property values would slide further. The Urban Land Institute predicts 2009 will be the worst year for the commercial real estate market "since the wrenching 1991-1992 industry depression."

Banks and other financial companies have not had the problems with commercial properties in this recession that they have had with residential properties. But many building owners, while struggling with more vacancies and less rental income, will need to refinance commercial mortgages this year.

The persistent chill in lending from banks to the credit markets will make that difficult, even for borrowers who are current on their payments, setting the stage for loan defaults.

The prospect bodes ill for banks, along with pension funds, insurance companies, hedge funds and others holding the loans or pieces of them that were packaged and sold as securities.

Jeffrey DeBoer, chief executive of the Real Estate Roundtable, a lobbying group in Washington, is asking for government assistance for his industry and warns of the potential impact of defaults. "Each one by itself is not significant," he said, "but the cumulative effect will put tremendous stress on the financial sector."

Stock analysts say commercial real estate is the next ticking time bomb for banks, which have already received hundreds of billions of dollars in capital and other assistance from the federal government. Big banks - like Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley - each hold tens of billions of dollars in commercial real estate securities. The banks also invested directly in properties.

Labels: credit crisis, economic crisis, real estate market

 

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1/04/2009 09:30:00 PM