Each Wednesday, The Wrap presents a compilation of recent noteworthy commercial real estate stories from a variety of publications. Below are links to four stories that caught our eyes in recent days.
• REITs Lose Ground in September; Continue to Lead Broader Market by Sarah Borchersen-Keto of REIT.com.
Key excerpt:
“REITs lost ground in September against the backdrop of a weakened broader market. The total return on the FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index dropped 5.6 percent for the month, [while] the S&P 500 Index fell 1.4 percent.
As of the end of September, however, the FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index had gained 13.1 percent for the year, compared with an 8.3 percent gain for the S&P 500.”
• Blip or Bellwether? National Vacancy Rate Rises 10 Bps by Multifamily Executive.
Key excerpt:
“We anticipated that vacancy would begin rising in 2014 due to the significant amount of new construction projected to be completed relative to demand,” Reis said in the report. “The national vacancy rate now stands 380 basis points below the cyclical peak of eight percent observed right after the recession concluded in late 2009. Nonetheless, 4.2 percent is still an incredibly tight market environment.”
• Self-Storage Refinancing: Why, How and When to Do It by David Smyle of Inside Self-Storage.
Key excerpt:
“At this point, anyone with a long-term hold strategy who has the opportunity to refinance into long-term, fixed-rate debt should refinance as soon as possible. This isn’t to say rates are going up any time soon or that they won’t even come down a little bit, as we’ve recently seen. But if rates go up by even .25 percent to .5 percent, it could mean significant additional interest over the loan term, depending on the size of the loan.”
• New Acquisitions – Let’s Buy a Shopping Center by Cary Halpern for Shopping Center Business.
Key excerpt:
“Beyond the basics, here are some tips that may help you beat the competition to the next acquisition:
1. Network with the brokerage community.
Establishing relationships with brokers is essential. This can be accomplished three ways:
• Stay in contact with the best brokers in your markets.
• Publicize your purchases to let the brokerage community know your company is active and has the financial resources to close a deal.
• Bring up concerns early and always tell the truth. Halpern relies on brokers to represent us to their sellers, so cultivating solid relationships based upon honesty and mutual respect will pay dividends down the road.”