$1.5 trillion in commercial real estate debt is due and will need to be refinanced.

1 year ago
6

Morgan Stanley estimates office and retail property values could fall up to 40%.
Small and regional banks are the biggest source of credit to commercial real estate. They are already in poor fiscal health due to customer deposit withdrawals.
Banks not only lend money to this sector but are also buyers as they have purchased more than half of agency commercial mortgage-backed securities. These are bonds supported by property loans and issued by US government sponsored entities like Fannie Mae.
I know what you are thinking, can we convert commercial property into residential? While that is prohibitively expensive and difficult. Commercial buildings have different code requirements than residential for things like HVAC, elevators, and insulation. These elements will have to be renovated. The issue with housing in the United States is that there is not enough affordable housing, the overall supply is arguably adequate.
I believe banks will keep rolling over debt for as long as the Fed keeps supporting them. Believe me, the Fed will keep supporting them. Eventually, the economy will catch up.
Works Cited:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-08/a-1-5-trillion-wall-of-debt-is-looming-for-us-commercial-properties?srnd=premium&sref=K5kiE5Jr&leadSource=reddit_wall

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