Beech Street Insights

Seize the Moment

These are strange times in the capital markets, with a series of looming financial crises interacting in complex and unexpected ways.  While most segments of the market are being battered, multifamily borrowers are facing some of the best pricing ever.  My advice: take advantage of...

Change Can Be a Good Thing

For multifamily investors, things couldn’t get much better.  Demand for rental units is high, rents are up, and interest rates are historically low.  And the GSEs are more competitive than ever.

But some borrowers hesitate to use a GSE execution because they are...

The GSEs Come Full Cycle

Just a few short months ago, there was a lot of talk about eliminating the GSEs. Now in the face of a dramatically slowing economy, the clamor has been replaced by silence—and for very good reason. In a financial world battered by successive waves of volatility, it’s now difficult to...

Market Expectations and Reality Diverge in 2011

After the financial meltdown of 2008, the agencies were largely the only game in town for multifamily financing, but that situation began to change in 2010. Between 2010 and 2011, for instance, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw their market share shrink as life insurance companies, banks, even CMBS...

The Rocky Road to Recovery

On the face of it, these should be good times for multifamily property owners. Vacancy rates are down, rents are once again on the rise, and interest rates are at unprecedented lows. The problem is that this good news is the product of a welter of bad news: the recovery seems to have stalled,...

In the Face of Uncertainty, Invest in Caution

If there’s a silver lining for multifamily borrowers in discussions being held in Washington on the future of Fannie and Freddie, I’ve yet to find it.  The best case scenario would be for the government to allow the agencies time to heal themselves and return to profitability...