Commercial real estate prices have surpassed the highs proceeding the 2008 financial crisis, and there are good reasons to think the sector is safer now than it was then.
Today’s lenders are avoiding many of the practices that led to the crash six years ago, and banks are tightening lending standards thanks to pressure from the Fed. And though low cap rates might typically keep investors away, the low borrowing costs environment has made CRE returns very attractive, Bloomberg reports.
Mortgages are safer as well, since banks are lending against a smaller part of a property’s value. Still, that doesn't mean we're in the clear. All of these preventative measures would mean nothing if real estate prices suddenly crashed, especially with shadow lenders with looser standards, such as private equity firms Blackstone and Starwood, taking on so many commercial loans that banks are turning away. [Bloomberg]
