Free Republic

They call it the “debt wall,” and it is not the kind of wall that protects you. It’s the kind that might collapse and crush your village, or into which you might crash your car. Specifically, it is $1.5 trillion in commercial real estate debt, owed to banks, pension funds, and insurance companies before the end of 2025, and secured by a national portfolio of office, retail, industrial, and multifamily properties that may not be worth what they were five or 10 years ago when those loans got made. This wall just might blow up in everyone’s face. The country’s...

Like many home owners, hotels are starting to drown in debt. They have been enticing travelers all year with sweet deals: credits for in-house spas and restaurants, up to 50 percent off five-star rooms, even free nights. But all that discounting hasn't stopped occupancy from dropping an average of 10 percent. The result? Hotel loans have begun falling into delinquency faster than any other kind of commercial real estate debt. The rising defaults paint a grim picture... The oversupply means room rates should stay low for at least another year, good news for consumers but not so great for hotel...

After spending more than a year in suspended animation, the commercial real estate industry is expected to hit bottom in 2010 with a wrenching thud. Owners of business properties such as office buildings, warehouses and malls will suffer a surge of painful defaults, write-downs and workouts with their lenders as the market finally faces up to the reality of its diminished conditions, according to a report set for release today. The long-awaited blood bath, however, will benefit investors who are able to swoop in to take advantage of record bargains. Unlike the formerly overheated housing market, which is in the...

Money Morning/The Money Map ReportStock prices have rallied for much of last month. The housing market has shown some early signs of life. And some of the latest economic reports haven’t been the disasters that many experts feared. While this is hardly a portrait of an economy on a roll, there are enough bright spots to nurture a feeling that the U.S. economy is finally on a path to recovery - especially given the upbeat response the latest elements of the Obama administration’s fix-it plans have received.But there’s a dark cloud in this picture. And it’s big - big enough,...

SACRAMENTO -- A proposed initiative ending Proposition 13 protection for commercial property would cost Los Angeles County taxpayers more than $26 million annually to implement, according to an analysis by the California Assessors' Association. The Tax Fairness Act has received almost $2.4 million from a group of influential public employee unions to circulate petitions placing the measure on the June 2006 ballot. Proponents say it would generate $2.8 billion per year in additional property tax revenues statewide. A CAA review of the proposal found it would be difficult and costly for counties to implement, with counties probably having to spend...