Industries

Life insurance companies increased their mortgage investments to levels higher than historical norms, creating more potential danger for their portfolios in the event of a real estate downturn, a Fitch Ratings report said.

While mortgage rate optimism kept consumer confidence about the home purchase market high in June, affordability worries pulled overall sentiment lower, a Fannie Mae survey said.

Because automated valuation models have not been subjected to a stressed housing market, their increased use holds negatives and positives for residential mortgage-backed securities credit quality, a Moody's report said.

A DBRS report states rising concentrations of light-duty truck collateral adds risks to vehicle securitization portfolios, but risk may differ among ABS types.

James Cotins and Matthew Lyons will work with lead partners Lee Askenazi and Robert Villani at the New York-based firm, joining from Alston & Bird.

The large number of overleveraged commercial mortgage-backed securities loans coming due in 2019 is likely to cause the payoff rate to drop an additional 9 percentage points by December, a Morningstar report said.

Farmers were already taking on more debt to cover losses from falling crop prices. New tariffs and other retaliatory moves could hurt ag borrowers further and lead to loan losses and tighter underwriting.

The large single-loan transaction covers two lab-office facilities in the Boston area's crowded life sciences corridor near MIT.

The trio of malls collateralizing the new mortgage include two well-performing mall as well as a troubled Florida super-regional shopping center.

Investors include New Orleans sports franchise owner Gayle Benson, placing the hotel under local ownership for the first time since it was built in 1976.

Commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding grew 6.8% in 2018, benefiting from strong employment numbers and strained inventory, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Bancorp 2019-CRE5 contains 46 loans on apartment buildings accounting for 82.4% of the collateral pool; that's up from 78.8% for the sponsor's prior deal.

The bank gained $45 million in PACE financings, which let homeowners pay back the costs of efficiency projects over time.

The rating agency has developed rating criteria for bonds backed by oil and gas royalties, though such deals would be capped at the 'A' rating category.

Late payments on loans backing commercial mortgage bonds continued falling at the start of the year, due to strong new issuance volume and continued resolutions for precrisis loans by special servicers, according to Fitch Ratings.

Plans to begin rating securitizations backed by fix-and-flip mortgages may help lenders create new capacity and satisfy growing demand for short-term financing of house flipping projects.

While the London interbank offered rate won't go dark until 2021, the commercial real estate finance industry should start preparing for the transition now, says the Mortgage Bankers Association.

A lapse in rental-assistance funding, an understaffed FHA and other effects of the government shutdown are causing real harm to families, said the chair of the House Financial Services Committee.

Lagging construction, rising interest rates and the broader economy don't really bode well for buyers of commercial real estate, but most CRE lenders still expect originations to increase in 2019, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Steven Mastrovich joins the firm a week after the departure of partner and CRE/CLO specialist Steven Kolyer for Sidley Austin.