We reported in our January/February issue how the increasing competition for CMBS deals among Wall Street firms was leading to a loosening of underwriting standards.
That trend has apparently taken hold of the CMBS market so quickly that one S&P insider has referred to some of the stuff that's been going into the new pools as outright "crap," according to a Bloomberg report.
Based on our conversations with long-time industry veterans, however, this is not a particularly surprising development. Many of them have said that it would be only a matter of months before the conduit lenders would begin to revert to their bad old habits. What's your take? Did you think it would take more time for Wall Street to recover its confidence after the financial crisis?
Meanwhile, you can read more news about retail and retail real estate here:
- Big Lots Said to Explore Sale After Buyout Interest (Bloomberg Businessweek)
- JC Penney Installs Touchscreen Interfaces at 120 Stores (The Wall Street Journal)
- Fed Says Commercial Market Less Risky (Republican Journal)