_Economy and Finance

World Property Channel Turnaround Continues for CMBS Market in 2013, But Fiscal Cliff Bears Watching Posted by Hortense Leon 12/19/12 8:59 AM EST The commercial real estate market, and the U.S. CMBS market in particular, are likely to see steady improvement in the New Year, says Huxley Somerville, head of US CMBS at Fitch Ratings in New York. "A slow increase in volume is preferable; we would not like to see a 50% increase over 2012," he says. "A 15% to 20% increase would be much better. Otherwise, competition would lead to the erosion of underwriting standards."

World Property Channel CMBS Issuance Expected to Increase by 50% in 2013 Posted by Hortense Leon 11/26/12 10:08 AM EST While there are a number of challenges that will face the US economy in 2013, good news is forecast for the CMBS market in the new year. According to a November 21th report issued by Deutsche Bank, the non-agency issuance volume of CMBS will increase by 50% to approximately $60 billion. That would be the highest total volume of CMBS issuance since the financial meltdown.

CMBS: Risk Retention Guidelines; Rising Mall Vacanies (00:12:44 min) In this Standard & Poor's podcast, Managing Director Ted Burbage, of Investor Relations, and Managing Director Howard Esaki, of Structured Finance Research, discuss “qualified” collateral in risk retention proposals for commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and new data on mall vacancies. Listen

The CMBS Market Improves In First-Quarter 2011, But Global Instability Could Impede Progress (00:05:53 min) In first-quarter 2011, the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) market experienced improving fundamentals, including tighter spreads and fewer delinquencies. Nevertheless, instability in the Middle East and North Africa, and the earthquake in Japan, resulted in increased volatility and higher commodity prices, which could ultimately hamper new CMBS issuance. In this podcast, Standard & Poor's Senior Director James Manzi provides an overview of CMBS market activity for the first quarter and our expectations for the rest of the year. Listen

Structured Finance Research Week: CMBS Recovery Model And The Impact Of Revised Counterparty Criteria (00:12:20 min) Howard Esaki, Zachary Wolf, James Manzi, and Erkan Erturk of Standard & Poor's Ratings Services' Global Structured Finance Research group discuss our commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) recovery model, including the economic scenarios used, and how CMBX Index results compare across various industry models.