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During Tuesday’s panels at the MBA’s annual CREF/Multifamily Convention and Expo taking place in San Diego, participants discussed the increasingly crowded bridge lending space, the conditions necessary for the continued flow of capital and possible disruptions to the mortgage banking industry. Here are the takeaways from day two of the show:
- In order for foreign capital to continue to flow freely into U.S. commercial real estate, the market needs interest rate divergence, strong property fundamentals and a “somewhat stabilized political system,” according to Jeff Friedman, co-founder and principal of Mesa West Capital. At the moment, those three conditions exist in the U.S. commercial real estate market, he noted. As a result, “the flow of [foreign] money into the debt space is enormous,” said Mark Williams, managing director with Eastdil Secured LLC. “Debt is viewed as a very safe investment for foreign entities.”
- In fact, the debt market has gotten increasingly crowded, especially in the bridge lending space. “There’s been a...