USDA loans go unused

(Salt Lake Tribune) On the surface, it’s a bad combination: $1.4 trillion in commercial real estate debt maturing through 2010, limited capital and 7 million job losses since the start of the recession. Despite the sour-tasting mixture, signs of liquidity returning to the market as well as stellar buying opportunities may make next year a bit more palatable for investors.

“Although troubling times are ahead for many investors, lifetime investment opportunities are forming for the real estate cycle players with cash in hand,” according to the most recent PricewaterhouseCoopers Korpacz Real Estate Investor Survey, which polls major institutional equity investors who invest primarily in institutional-grade property. Investors who are patient, but also daring and selective will acquire high quality assets in markets such as Boston, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, New York and Austin.

Compared with the drought of debt in commercial real estate over the past 12 months, there is evidence that capital will be available to refinance 2010 maturities. For instance, Inland American Real Estate Trust, a real estate investment trust based in Oak Brook, Ill., recently announced that it has refinanced or retired $684 million of its 2010 debt maturities. The remaining $90 million, slated to mature in the second half of the year, is currently being marketed.

Original Article