XPost: alt.politics.trump, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: or.politics   
   From: hmorris@spectrum.net   
      
   Well Democrats?  Was it worth leveraging COVID to illegally steal an   
   election?  This is the payback for what you ignorant fools did.  You   
   can't blame this on Trump.   
      
   Soaring interest rates are making it tougher for owners to refinance   
   property   
      
   San Francisco and Los Angeles have been hard hit by a rise in empty offices   
      
   Jerome Powell warned issues with commercial real estate could affect banks   
      
   Commercial real estate foreclosures are ramping up across the US as   
   soaring interest rates and the slow return of workers to office spaces   
   begin to take their toll.   
      
   There were 625 commercial real estate foreclosures in March - up 6   
   percent on the month prior and 117 percent from the same time in 2023,   
   according to latest figures from real estate data provider ATTOM.   
      
   Some areas are facing a bigger crisis than others - with 187 properties   
   facing a foreclosure filing in California last month, which was the   
   highest of any state. Although this was an 8 percent dip from the   
   previous month, it was a huge 405 percent jump from last year.   
      
   Small and regional banks are the biggest source of credit for the   
   commercial real estate market, holding about 80 percent of the sector's   
   outstanding debt.   
      
   Around $929 billion in commercial real estate loans is due to mature   
   this year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, raising   
   concerns this trouble spot could trigger a banking crisis.   
      
   Economists last month found 40 percent of office loans on bank balance   
   sheets were underwater - owing more than the property is worth.   
      
   Smaller regional banks who loaned the money to buy them could themselves   
   be at risk if the loans default as they are not big enough to handle the   
   losses.   
      
   Foreclosure occurs when an owner can no longer make their monthly   
   mortgage payments and has to forfeit the rights to a property as a result.   
      
   To calculate the data, ATTOM counts the number of commercial properties   
   with at least one foreclosure filing, which includes default notices,   
   scheduled auctions and bank repossessions.   
      
   California, which was at the epicenter of the regional banking crisis   
   last year with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, is at the forefront   
   of the commercial property crisis.   
      
   According to Bloomberg, almost a third of the state's 127 registered   
   banks have property debt above the 300 percent level - the most among US   
   states.   
      
   With interest rates sky-high, banks are setting aside more money to   
   cover potential commercial real estate losses.   
      
   San Francisco and Los Angeles, in particular, have been hit hard by   
   companies abandoning office space amid a rise in remote work and a slow   
   return of staffers after the pandemic.   
      
   'The financial ecosystem in California is heavily reliant on regional   
   and commercial banks,' Michael Imerman, faculty director of the master   
   of finance program at the University of California, told the outlet.   
      
   'Small banks cater to a specific clientele and that can lead to an   
   age-old problem: concentration risk.'   
      
   A rise in foreclosure filings shows banks are getting tougher on   
   delinquent borrowers, Bloomberg reported.   
      
   Alongside California, New York, Florida, Texas and New Jersey also saw   
   an increase in commercial foreclosures increase last month, according to   
   the data.   
      
   https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/banking/article-13324063/c   
   mmercial-real-estate-foreclosure-banking-crisis.html   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)