Paul Fiorilla, Director of Research, Yardi Matrix
S
tarting the year with a new regulatory environment, worries about
peaking commercial real estate values and cooling fundamentals,
2017 was bound to be a test for the CMBS market. Although the
year got off to a shaky start, by summertime the market earned
more than passing grades.
U.S. volume through early August was $49.3 billion, up 34 percent year-over-year, according to
Commercial Mortgage Alert, while metrics such as loan quality and bond prices were favorable.
Still, the market must deal with regulatory changes, a shrinking base of investors and originators and
concerns about the state of real estate fundamentals, challenges that won't be quickly be resolved.
"Despite the exit of smaller loan contributors, greater alternative lending competition, and newly
rolled out regulations, the CMBS space has more than held its own in 2017. The CMBS market
has adapted exceedingly well to the new regulatory requirements at this point," noted Tom Fink,
Senior Vice President at New York-based analytics firm Trepp. "Overall, the market has produced
deal structures under risk retention that pass investor and regulatory scrutiny and the pricing levels
for these deals have been favorable and competitive."
CMBS Passes
Its 2017 Midterms