Tag Archive for: federal interest rates

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Four Things You Might Be Underestimating About Industrial Real Estate

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As with so many areas of real estate, there was an operational and profit high during the last few years that was like an industry getting drunk and then waking up with a headache.

Looking back can create regret, but here are some things that MSCI in its Q1 2023 U.S. Industrial Capital Trends Report suggests are easy to underestimate.

1. Immediate Comparisons Are Unrealistic

Would you compare a little kid running around with a blanket tied around the shoulders like a cape to an actual superhero? Of course not. Nor would you reasonably undergo a once-in-a-blue-moon experience and then expect that should become an everyday event. That is the difficulty in looking at typical year-over-year business comparisons in industrial.

“Industrial deal volume hit a record high of $40.6b for any first quarter in 2022,” MSCI wrote. “The next-highest first quarter period was in 2020 when $34.4b traded. Any comparisons of the current quarter to these record high points for the market are going to look harsh. In truth, the market simply slipped back closer to a normal level at the start of 2023.”

According to MSCI’s analysis, average first quarter deal volume from 2005 to 2019 is $11.2 billion. This year’s Q1 transaction volume fits in with the past.

2. The Industry Was Already Gearing Up For Higher Rates

“It can be difficult to think in terms of anything aside from Covid given the collective trauma experienced, but back in the fall of 2019, investors began to adapt to a rising rate environment,” the analysis said, remembering that concerns about rates existed before the pandemic.

CRE professionals attending industry conferences at the time were concerned about the Federal Reserve tightening its balance sheet. But it had been more than a decade since the Global Financial Crisis. Realistically, how long would the Fed put off cleaning its inflated balance sheet?

“Investors wanted to focus more on asset types that had low capex relative to the NOI for a rising interest rate environment, and the industrial sector matched this need.”

3. Investors Were Under-Allocated

The MSCI report suggests that investors hadn’t allocated enough of their capital to the industrial sector. This was true for multifamily, as they reported in a separate publication.

“It is not yet clear that investors have the allocations that they desire as there are many moving parts in place. But with the RCA CPPI for industrial slowing to only a 3.3% gain from a year earlier and volume back to average levels, one might make that case.”

4. Cap Rates Are Up, But Not That Much

One of the stories floating around is the return of cap rates. They are up some, but that’s in comparison to the depths they visited in 2022. Cap rates are nowhere nearly as high as pre-pandemic levels.

“The RCA Hedonic Series cap rate reached5.5% in Q1 2023, up from a low of 5.2% seen in Q1 2022 before interest rates surged. Cap rates have increased only 30 bps in a time when the 10yr UST has increased 170 bps.”

 

Source: GlobeSt

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Impact Of Rising Interest Rates Mixed On Commercial Real Estate

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The past two years were like nothing ever before seen in South Florida.

A period of record growth was fueled by inbound migration, strong consumer spending and record low interest rates — all of which drove billions of dollars invested in the development of millions of square feet of commercial real estate.

Much of this was brought on by the pandemic. Now, the pandemic has subsided and the South Florida CRE market has come to a moment of reckoning. Or has it?

The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates five times this year, including the increase of 75 basis points on Sept. 21, all in an effort to stem inflation. The Fed’s effort to keep the economy moving at the start of the pandemic led to the slashing of its target rate to 0%-to-0.25%. It remained there for the next two years, until March, when it set its first increase of 25 basis points.

The era of relatively cheap money for commercial and residential borrowers has come to an end. While the current rate of around 3% to 3.25% still is historically low, borrowing costs are at their highest level since 2019. In June, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell noted that the rate could reach 3.8% by late 2023. Simply put: These are the most aggressive rate hikes in generations.

This leaves developers and owners of office, industrial and retail projects to perform a delicate balancing and forecasting act incorporating borrowing costs versus long-term demand.

With borrowing costs rising, and fears of inflation and a possible recession looming, how will CRE across South Florida respond? It’s impossible to judge from how other markets are responding. Some have seen commercial projects tabled and vacancies rising, even if rents remain stable.

South Florida Is The Outlier In The CRE Marketplace

Development remains robust. Warehouse, logistics and industrial projects continue unabated from Homestead in the South and Palm Beach County’s Western expanse to the North, with numerous infill projects in between. Luxury rental apartments in hot markets, such as Brickell, Coral Gables, Fort Lauderdale’s Flagler Village and downtown West Palm Beach, are rising to meet the demand of the more than 800 new arrivals still coming to Florida daily.

Conflicts exist between remote workers and their employers calling for a “return to the office;” and with the hybrid workplace model continuing to evolve, future office needs remain unknown. Yet, the region has numerous dedicated and mixed-use Class A projects in development.

While the concept of “headwinds” comes up in any conversation about the unknown impacts of rising interest rates, inflation and the possibility of recession, South Florida and the state are outliers for other reasons. Whether through REITs (real estate investment trusts), private equity, hedge funds and other institutional capital seeking a solid vehicle for their funds; family offices and investors looking for a hedge against inflation; Latin American families seeking a less turbulent harbor for their money; those looking to real estate as a hedge against inflation; or developers bullish on local market prospects, Florida is rich with liquidity.

 

Source: SFBJ

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Why CRE Is Proving More Stable Than Stocks, According To One Expert

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The stock market has been on a tumultuous ride as of late, making commercial real estate even more attractive to investors looking for stability amid the chaos.

“I think it gives everyone a little heartburn to see the S&P 500 fall by more than 6% in a little over a week,” says Marcus & Millichap’s John Chang. “But the stock market has been on this trend for awhile.”

Specifically, the stock market is down by 10% over the last month and by 24% from the peak at the beginning of this year. And while it gained 27% in 2021, the losses this year have basically wiped out last year’s gains. The CRE market also had big pricing gains last year, according to Marcus & Millichap data, led by industrial at 17.9%, self-storage at 13.6% and apartment at 8.1% The difference?

“While the stock market peaked at the end of 2021, “commercial real estate kept going,” Chang says.

In the first half of 2022, the average industrial prices went up by 13%, self-storage went up by 10.5%, and hotels increased by 13.7%. Meanwhile, in the first half of 2022 the stock market fell by 20%.  The caveat, however, is that pricing is typically locked in 90 days before a deal closes, meaning second quarter pricing numbers were probably locked in before the Fed began aggressively raising rates.

Chang says the Fed’s press conference after its latest hike on September 21 “will probably impact” CRE pricing, “but the impact will be far less severe than what we’re seeing on Wall Street.”

“In general, CRE values tend to move more slowly than the stock market. They also tend to be less dramatic,” Chang says, adding that quarter-over-quarter pricing swings over the last 20 years have been “enormous” while commercial real estate pricing has largely remained steady.

Total annual returns also drive this point home, with CRE delivering a compound annual growth rate of 7.8% since 2000, beating the S&P at 5.3%.

“It still has its ups and downs, but its amplitude tends to be very modest compared to the stock market,” Chang says.

 

Source: GlobeSt.

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CRE Investors React To Federal Rate Increases

As many expected, the Federal Reserve recently decided to raise interest rates to the range of 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent, and the increases are likely to continue in 2018.

In March, the Federal Open Market Committee meeting announced its expectation for “further gradual increases” this year. Interest rates are extremely important in the evaluation and performance of any commercial real estate investment due to their impact on the present value of future cash flows. Higher rates make borrowing more expensive for owners, and tend to raise cap rates and reduce property values. However, higher rates also mean a stronger economy, which tends to be associated with a stronger real estate market.

So how will these increases affect commercial real estate investors? Alex Zylberglait, Marcus & Millichap’s senior managing director of investment, delves into how the increase in interest rates is impacting both foreign and domestic investment in U.S. real estate.

How will the rise in interest rates influence the commercial real estate market?

Zylberglait: The Federal Reserve recently raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point and is expected to raise rates twice more this year. As a broker who handles investment sales targeting properties in the range of $1 million to $20 million, which is the most active segment of the CRE market in South Florida, I can say that I haven’t seen much of an impact in the commercial real estate market yet. But having said that, I do anticipate a delayed effect, with rates influencing the market in the next three to six months. What I am beginning to see are prospective buyers locking in rates for long-term financing.

On the other hand, I am seeing more properties hitting the market, as property owners seek to cash out before cap rates go up as a result of rising interest rates. For example, one of my clients who owns an office building in Miami has a mortgage that’s maturing and debt coming due. Due to rising interest rates coupled with a maturing mortgage, my client wants to unload the property now instead of selling in a higher interest rate environment. But rising interest rates is one of many factors positioned to impact the CRE market this year.

How will higher interest rates impact foreign vs. domestic investment?

Zylberglait: The impact of rising interest rates will most likely be less on foreign investment than on domestic investment. The foreigners who use financing pay a much lower interest rate in the U.S. than in their home country.

However, what we’re seeing is foreigners unloading their CRE assets. For the past seven years, foreign investors have steadily moved away from buying pre-construction condos and turned their attention to CRE properties in Miami. As the Fed raises interest rates coupled with the real estate cycle nearing an end, foreigners are now cashing out for different reasons. Based on where we are in the real estate cycle, foreign investors are selling to capitalize on the rapid appreciation that the South Florida market experienced in the last five years. They no longer expect a significant appreciation so many of them have no reason to hold on to their properties.

Can you give an example?

Zylberglait: One of my clients from Argentina, who has been buying commercial properties in South Florida for nearly a decade, is now selling a single-tenant building occupied by Starbucks in one of Miami’s hottest markets, Doral. He recently renegotiated a nice lease deal with Starbucks to maximize sales proceeds in order to invest in value-add opportunities in the region.

Another one of my clients, Metro Capital Partners, which invests capital from Colombia in Miami, is another example of this trend. Metro recently sold an office building in Miami-Dade County’s West Kendall submarket for $7.9 million, after acquiring it in a 2014 distress sale for $3.2 million. For the most part, these investors are selling to either buy more assets in South Florida or pay down debt on other properties. Foreign investors continue to see our region as a safe place to grow and protect their capital even as interest rates continue rise.

What impact will the rate increase have on the South Florida market?

Zylberglait: In this real estate cycle, a significant amount of assets in South Florida were priced aggressively, with 2015 being the peak. As the market stabilizes or levels off, a rise in interest rates will contribute to faster stabilization of prices, resulting in investors preparing for slower growth and appreciation.

However, some of my clients who are more yield driven are looking outside of South Florida to places like Orlando and Tampa. We are starting to see a migration of investors and developers northward. For example, Dezer, a well-known developer in South Florida, recently purchased a shopping mall in Orlando with plans to redevelop it into an entertainment complex.

Another example is Riviera Point Development Group, a South Florida developer that purchased 3.3 acres on 11551 International Drive, a few miles from Seaworld, where he plans to build a dual-branded hotel, La Quinta Inns and Suites, and Tryp by Wyndham. Riviera Point developed five office buildings in South Florida and a Radisson Red Hotel near Miami International Airport in this real estate cycle. When it came time to purchase more land, Riviera Point’s CEO Rodrigo Azpurua chose Orlando because of land values and appreciation, which can mitigate the impact of rising interest rates. But having said that, I may add that land values in Orlando today are not as advantageous as they were a year ago.

How will the CRE market respond as interest rates continue to rise?

Zylberglait: Everyone knew rising interest rates were coming and as a result, we haven’t seen much of a reaction in the market. There’s no panic. However, the value for Class B and C assets is softening and I expect to see a divergence between Class A, B and C assets.

 

Source: Commercial Property Executive