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March 30, 2009 Sign up Forward Archive Advertise The daily source on REITs and real estate investment   Top News  Obama seeks unity as he heads to G-20 meeting President Barack Obama said the leaders attending the Group of 20 summit in London this week know they need to "deliver a strong message of unity" to help the global economy. He expressed optimism that the leaders will develop a framework for economic recovery and downplayed talk of a divide between U.S. and European leaders. He also acknowledged backlash in the U.S. against additional economic-stimulus initiatives while officials continue to urge other nations to increase economic growth. To read the text of Obama's interview with Financial Times, click here. Financial Times (free content) (3/30)   Capital Markets  Treasury public-private plan will aid big investors Institutional investors are poised to benefit from an Obama administration plan that will let them buy as much as $1 trillion of bank loans and mortgage securities with low-interest government loans and guarantees. Ford Motor Credit and other companies have already benefited from a related government loan program. Barron's (subscription required) (3/28) Bank CEOs vow to cooperate with White House's efforts President Barack Obama met with the heads of the largest U.S. banks Friday to gain support and urge the bankers to accept responsibility for the financial crisis. After the meeting, the 13 bank leaders vowed to cooperate with the government to resolve the crisis and shore up the broader economy. NYTimes.com (3/27), The Washington Post (3/28)   Investment News  "Agency" REITs holding up nicely through the crisis One class of real estate investment, "agency" REITs that invest primarily in mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, currently are performing better than other segments of the REIT market, thanks in part to the fact that their investments are effectively guaranteed by the federal government. "These are recession-friendly companies," said a senior research analyst at JMP Securities, Steven C. DeLaney. NYTimes.com (3/28) Property funds see Chinese property market as uninviting China's property market remains uninviting to foreign investors and risky, according to fund managers who spoke at a real estate conference last week in Shanghai. "International investors are taking their money home," said Richard Price, regional CEO of ING Real Estate Investment Management. The market will face additional pressure as bargains emerge in other areas. The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model) (3/30)   Real Estate Marketplace  Data confirms a rough year for New York office market To nobody's surprise, New York City job losses are taking their toll on the nation's biggest office market, with rents and occupancies falling and sales slowing to a crawl. Class A office properties in Midtown Manhattan have taken a pounding, as the average vacancy climbed from 7.9% to 13.5% during the past year and asking rents fell 12%. Commercial Property Executive (3/30) TICs stumble with problems in CRE market Tenant-in-common, a form of ownership that gained popularity in recent years, has been hard hit by the downturn in commercial real estate. The vehicles became popular by investors who set up 1031 exchanges, which allowed capital gains taxes to be deferred on property sales. Barron's (subscription required) (3/28) Some signs of a market bottom for U.K. commercial property There are a few indications that the British commercial property market is "reaching a market bottom for top-quality assets," says Nomura's Mike Prew. The big question is whether landlords have leased their space for long enough to carry them through a period of depressed rents, something he calls the "rental recession." MoneyWeek (London) (3/27) Apartment sale volume continued decline in February Apartment sale volume remained slow in February, following sluggish activity in January, according to Real Capital Analytics. "We probably haven't seen this since the early '90s. There's a lack of confidence to transact. If it's not the investor, it's the lender. If it's not the buyer, it's the seller," said Dan Fasulo, managing director for Real Capital Analytics. Preliminary numbers show 44 assets sold in the month, down from 47 in January. Multifamily Executive (3/2009) AIG backs out of real estate venture payments Apartment and shopping center projects in several states owned by joint ventures with American International Group are getting into financial trouble as AIG puts off or cuts off payments, saying the terms of its arrangement with the Federal Reserve don't allow it to pay joint-venture partners. At a time when federal bailout money has been used to pay AIG's financial obligations to U.S. and foreign banks, property developers in the U.S. are being left out in the cold. The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model) (3/30) Other News John Hancock Tower sale for half of 2006 price likely Bloomberg (3/30) Regency Centers: Retail space is still getting leased Commercial Property Executive (3/27) The Buzz(CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENTS) Increase Cash Flow Visibility… Save $0.50 per Invoice Processed Read Study on how an innovative firm gained visibility with AvidInvoice. Receive 100% electronic invoices – every vendor, every 24 hours. Attend Webinar to see how Colonial Properties Trust and REIT Management & Research have automated AP. Interested in learning more about advertising in NAREIT SmartBrief? Contact Susan W. Kim at (202) 407-7877 or skim@smartbrief.com.     Featured Content    Lessons From Writing The West Wing Do Good Ideas Spawn Successful Businesses? To Acquire or Not to Acquire: The Five Biggest Mistakes Buyers Make Crafty Lessons: A Strong Community Will Help You Thrive Organization Insights Behind The Blue Men   NAREIT News  Structural issues facing REITs today The Department of Real Estate at Baruch College, CUNY, in conjunction with NAREIT, is hosting a conference on April 1 called Structural Issues Facing REITs in Today's Markets. The purpose of the conference is to present the latest research on corporate governance, earnings management and asset diversification affecting REITs. The event, being held at Baruch's Newman Conference Center, is free, but registration is required and attendance is limited. Track performance of U.S. and global real estate markets Updated daily, the FTSE NAREIT U.S. Real Estate Index Returns and the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index Returns provide index performance data, industry segment returns and comparisons against other major market benchmarks. Learn more about NAREIT ->   Join NAREIT |  Policy & Politics |  NAREIT Events |  Publications   SmartQuote  An unhatched egg is to me the greatest challenge in life." --E.B. White, American writer     Subscriber Tools       Print friendly format | Web version | Search past news | Archive | Privacy policy Advertise Associate Publisher:  Susan W. 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