banks should be hyper careful about lending -- because our real estate assets are still very over priced. Commericial real estate is a massive disaster waiting to happen. It is being delayed by the marked to fantasy accounting rules. It seems like the banks would rather keep the properties marked up than sell them at market prices and take the loss. And essentially we are seeing that Residential real estate is still overpriced when you look at the buyer pool and traditional lending standards. So if you were a bank and you knew that we still have a big asset repricing... who would you lend money to?
They're lending to those with top credit scores, and a low debt to net. As far as commercial real estate, it's a scary thought.:eek:
Is Sam Zell getting back in? I just did a quick Google on him, doesn't look like he's doing any commercial RE again yet. When he does, then you'll know the fog will be lifting.