The CMBS deal calendar for early 2012 is taking shape. All told, 14 transactions totaling $10.8 billion are scheduled to hit the market by April, according to a preliminary tally by Commercial Mortgage Alert. The activity comprises nine multi-borrower deals totaling $9.3 billion, three single-borrower transactions totaling $1.1 billion and two distressed-loan securitizations totaling $400 million.
Of those, 11 deals totaling $8 billion are scheduled for the first quarter. In addition to those in the pipeline, one transaction has already priced: a $1.2-billion multi-borrower issue by Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Archetype Mortgage Capital.
The projected $9.2 billion of first-quarter issuance would put the U.S. market on pace for $37 billion of annual volume — right in line with the prediction of a panel of CMBS pros surveyed recently by Commercial Mortgage Alert. The deal pipeline, while hardly robust compared with pre-2008 levels, does reflect improvement in the market since last year’s second-half swoon. Only $5.8 billion of U.S. offerings priced in the fourth quarter. But bond spreads have tightened somewhat, improving the competitive position of CMBS lenders, who are feeling more upbeat these days.