Commercial Mortgage Alert reports that a big fourth quarter has lifted U.S. commercial MBS volume for 2012 above $48 billion — and strong issuance will continue in the first quarter. CMBS activity has soared almost 50% in 2012 from $32.7 billion in 2011. The increase was bolstered by close to $18 billion of issuance in the past three months — by far the largest quarterly volume this year.
A first look at the 2013 pipeline has identified $19 billion of transactions scheduled for January through March. Other transactions are likely to be added, setting the stage for another substantial increase in issuance in 2013. Below is a summary of CMBS conduit deals in the works for January 2013:
Issuer | Deal Type | Rate Type | Amount ($mil.) |
---|---|---|---|
Morgan Stanley/BofA | Conduit | Fixed | $1,400 |
Deutsche/Ladder Capital | Conduit | Fixed | $1,300 |
Morgan Stanley/BofA | Conduit | Fixed | $1,300 |
Goldman/Citigroup | Conduit | Fixed | $1,250 |
Wells Fargo/RBS | Conduit | Fixed | $1,250 |
The surge in activity has stemmed partly from a big rally in the bond market that drove down the funding costs of securitization programs, enabling them to cut their loan rates and compete more effectively with portfolio lenders.
“The great rates available to borrowers, pretty much all in the 4.0%-4.75% range, are spurring an incredible amount of refinancing activity and an increasing amount of purchase activity as the lower cost of debt is helping support higher real estate equity prices,” noted Michael D. Sneden, Executive Vice President at ValueXpress. “2013 is looking real good for originations right now.”