Op-ed: “Transitional Lending: The Sweet Spot in CRE Investing”

While the U.S. commercial real estate market in aggregate has recovered from the depths of the 2008-09 recession, reaching new all-time highs, the recovery has been uneven across sectors and regions. Consider the following statistics regarding the current state of the market. Apartment rents are more than 20 percent higher since 2007, while rents in the office, retail and industrial sectors have barely risen at all over the same period. Valuations for apartments and central business district (CBD) office properties are up 53 percent and 43 percent, respectively, while at the same time valuations in retail and suburban office sectors continue to lag 2007 peak prices. Major markets such as New York, San Francisco and Chicago have seen significantly sharper price increases than secondary or mid-tier markets across the country.