Commercial Real Estate on the Mend
Despite predictions of Armageddon in the commercial real estate industry, the segment remains a moneymaker.
Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBS) were among the top-performing assets classes this year. "A year or two ago these were priced for the second Depression and then some," said Arne Espe, vice president of fixed income research at USAA Investment Management in San Antonio. "We haven't seen the huge defaults a lot of people were expecting."
Analysts counsel patience. "If you can give it some time, employment will bounce back and then commercial real estate will start rising," said Greg Michaud, who heads real estate finance at ING Investment Management.
Source: Fortune.com, Colin Barr (12/20/2010)
