Search Results
Journal Article
Commercial real estate and low interest rates
Commercial real estate construction faltered during the 2007 recession and has improved only slowly during the recovery. However, low interest rates have led to higher property valuations and are clearly benefiting the sector. The recovery of commercial property prices has been notable. Some measures suggest that, in some segments of the market, prices are close to their pre-recession highs. Valuation measures do not suggest that current prices are excessive.
Speech
The U.S. economic outlook
Remarks at the Washington and Lee University H. Parker Willis Lecture in Political Economics, Lexington, Virginia.
Report
Defaults and losses on commercial real estate bonds during the Great Depression era
We employ a unique data set of public commercial real estate (CRE) bonds issued during the Great Depression era (1920-32) to determine their frequency of default and total loss given default. Default rates on these bonds far exceeded those originated in subsequent periods, driven in part by the greater economic stress of the Depression as well as the lower level of financial sophistication of investors and structures that prevailed in 1920-32. Our results confirm that making loans with higher loan-to-value ratios results in higher rates of default and loss. They also support the business ...
Speech
An update on the status of the economy and its implications for monetary policy
Remarks for the Annual Joint Luncheon of Commercial Real Estate Women Dallas and North Texas Certified Commercial Investment Members, Dallas, Texas, August 16, 2006 ; "In determining future policy, my colleagues and I will watch and listen and "taste" the indicators carefully as they come in. And, as we said at the conclusion of our last FOMC meeting, we will act accordingly. If anybody tells you with absolute conviction that the Fed is done raising interest rates or with equal conviction that they have only paused and will raise rates more starting in September or October, remind yourself ...
Report
Real estate investors, the leverage cycle, and the housing market crisis
We explore a mostly undocumented but important dimension of the housing market crisis: the role played by real estate investors. Using unique credit-report data, we document large increases in the share of purchases, and subsequently delinquencies, by real estate investors. In states that experienced the largest housing booms and busts, at the peak of the market almost half of purchase mortgage originations were associated with investors. In part by apparently misreporting their intentions to occupy the property, investors took on more leverage, contributing to higher rates of default. Our ...
Journal Article
How much is that home really worth? Appraisal bias and house-price uncertainty
With house prices often below the face value of mortgages these days, the expected return on many mortgages has tumbled, since one of the major forces supporting mortgages, the collateral, has weakened. One source of these mortgage problems has been the validity of the home appraisal, which is supposed to be an objective and expert dollar valuation of the house that should help make a mortgage less risky. Unfortunately, the appraisal process can go awry and often has. As Leonard Nakamura shows in this article, appraisals have been biased upward, making mortgages riskier. Now a reverse risk is ...
Journal Article
Real estate markets in 1952
Journal Article
Cloud over commercial real estate is slowly lifting in Texas
Every segment of the Texas commercial property sector suffered during the recession of 2009. Demand withered for space in offices, warehouses and retail centers, pushing up vacancy rates and lowering rental rates. Private nonresidential construction dropped sharply, reaching near-record lows. The global financial crisis temporarily brought lending to a halt. Commercial-mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) lending dried up in Texas and the U.S. as it became clear that repackaging suspect loans didn't lower risk. Banks also became wary of adding CRE loans to their books, especially in Texas, where ...
Speech
Housing and the economic recovery
Remarks at the New Jersey Bankers Association Economic Forum, Iselin, New Jersey.
Journal Article
Swap meet
How a real estate law has driven up farmland prices.