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Borrowers will see plenty of liquidity in the construction lending market from banks, debt funds and life companies this year.  The debt funds and private money lenders will be more aggressive, while banks are expected to originate around the same construction volume as 2019.  Some banks have been over-regulated out of the construction lending business, More

Land lending will become more challenging this year.  Many lenders are pulling back from the land space as the economy starts to turn and development slows.  However, there will be a slew of bridge lenders entering the land lending game.  This is a byproduct of the massive competition in the cash-flowing bridge space, which has More

Life company lenders will begin the New Year with empty buckets, which will lead to a busy Q1 and more aggressive underwriting.  The last quarter of 2019 saw life companies push back on production and become more conservative with underwriting as they met their allocations for the year.  Look for them to offer new programs, More

Borrowers will see an increase in bank lending this year once the vaccine is readily available and people are able to get back to work.  Banks will continue to focus on relationships and will be risk averse, which will show through lower leverage and less available non-recourse dollars.  For the time being, large money center More

There will be demand from pent-up JV and pref equity investors looking to put money out this year, especially after sitting on the sidelines throughout most of 2020.  Count on a move toward development transactions as investors will be confident that once these projects are complete, the economy will have rebounded.  There will be a More

Count on self storage to be a favored asset class next year, as capital will be robust.  Lenders view this as a strong property type targeted after multifamily and industrial.  They are attracted to its high value and recession-proof nature.  Even with added competition from new supply, same-store sales continue to grow.  Baby boomers are More

Regional and local banks will be extremely competitive next year, while the major banks will concentrate on larger loans and existing clients.  Banks will continue to seek the strongest loans with thorough underwriting of borrower financials, business plans, markets, track record of the sponsor, general contractor, etc.  Overall, bank lending will be slightly more conservative More

Watch for lenders of all types to be bullish next year and fund anything they can get their hands on.  As long as nothing earth-shattering happens and favorable demographics such as low rates continue, the economy will move along in a positive trend.  Competition will be fierce, especially with the agencies back full swing in More

Count on equity investors to continue deploying plenty of capital for the foreseeable future.  Investors will focus on different investment types and diversify into new asset classes in order to grab yield next year.  Pref equity investments will be some of the most liquid capital in 2020, especially as a lot of JV equity groups More

Retail borrowers will see plenty of available capital from banks, life companies and CMBS lenders going forward.  While lenders will be cautious, many believe that the Amazon fallout has already played out and retail will stabilize.  There will be a continued flight to quality as lenders seek best-in-class sponsors that can mitigate risk by contributing More

Anticipate a strong mix of agency and bank capital for multifamily in 2020.  Life companies will also increase their allocations for multifamily next year by approximately $10B.  After a slowdown during the summer, the agency world has stabilized with new allocations of around $20B per quarter and they will resume competitiveness in the market.  Having More

Expect new bridge lenders to enter the market, especially as borrowers utilize bridge loans on a more frequent basis.  There are more debt funds being raised and life company lenders creating bridge programs.  Watch out for traditional equity investors entering the bridge debt market to grab yield.  There is a ton of money in the More