Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the behemoth of suburban retail stores, has ended its growth experiment to open smaller versions of its large superstore concept in rural and suburban infill locations. The retailer will close all 102 of its Walmart Express outlets, the smaller of its two small format stores, … [Read more...] about 1.15.16: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Abandons Small Store Format

According to Commercial Mortgage Alert, CMBS issuance reached a milestone in 2015 – eclipsing the $100-billion barrier for the first time since 2007 – but only barely, finishing at $101 billion. This compares with $94.1 billion of CMBS issued in 2014, up 7%, but is far less than the $124 billion … [Read more...] about 1.8.16: 2015 CMBS Issuance Tops $100 Billion; Lenders Cautiously Optimistic for 2016

Recently, Lawler Rogers, a graduate of CCTG and a student of Michael D. Sneden, Executive Vice President at ValueXpress, was interviewed about his experience with his first deal with ValueXpress. Watch his interview below: … [Read more...] about 1.5.16: CCTG Grad Lawler Rogers Talks About His Experience with ValueXpress

Self-Storage facilities has turned out to be the best-performing asset class in CMBS in terms of delinquency. Self-storage CMBS-backed loans historically have been good performers for several reasons. For one, self-storage properties weren’t prone to being overvalued during the peak of CMBS lending … [Read more...] about 12.28.15: Self-Storage Properties Best-Performing Asset Class in CMBS

Michael D. Sneden, Executive Vice President of ValueXpress, will be representing the firm at the Mortgage Bankers Association Commercial Real Estate Finance (CREF)/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo at the Hyatt Regency in Orlando, Florida January 31-Febraury 3, 2016. The convention is … [Read more...] about 12.25.15: Meet Me at the MBA in Orlando, FL

As the holiday shopping season comes to a close, it is clear that shoppers chose the Internet over a trip to the mall. Sales at brick & mortar stores fell 6.7% over the most recent weekend, while traffic declined 10.4%, according to RetailNext, which collects data through analytics software it … [Read more...] about 12.21.15: Sales Continue to Fall at Brick & Mortar Retailers

The Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate on Wednesday, December 16 from a range of 0.00%-0.25% to a range of 0.25%-0.50%. The move was widely expected. It is a sign of how much the economy has healed since the Great Recession. The central bank believes the U.S. economy is strong now and no … [Read more...] about 12.16.15: Treasury and Swaps Stable After Federal Reserve Rate Increase

CMBS conduit loan spreads have increased steadily this fall and many conduit borrowers who have not completed transactions recently are surprised when they receive a Term Sheet reflecting current market spreads. A natural response is “Wow, why is this loan spread so high compared with my last deal?” … [Read more...] about 12.11.15: Borrowers Want to Know: Why Are CMBS Conduit Loan Spreads Going Up!

About six weeks ago, the 10-year Treasury rate surpassed the 10-year Swap rate. For at least the past ten years, the Swap rate had always been higher than the equivalent Treasury rate. The gap between the two indexes was typically 10 basis points (bp). Right now, the reverse is true, the 10-year … [Read more...] about 12.3.15: CMBS Conduit Lenders Slip New Provision in Term Sheets

The significant amount of CMBS conduit loan maturities in 2016-2017 will provide an unprecedented opportunity for CMBS conduit loan mortgage brokers to increase their origination volume. “Recently, Jim Brett, our CMBS bond analyst and head of CMBS conduit loan underwriting at ValueXpress, performed … [Read more...] about 11.27.15: Wave of CMBS Maturities Is Here!