by Calculated Risk on 7/14/2009 07:58:00 PM

Voit released quarterly reports today for CRE in Las Vegas, San Diego and Orange County.

The reports show the vacancy rates are up and lease rates falling. It also shows new construction has slowed sharply. Here are a couple of graphs for Orange County and San Diego. We are seeing a similar pattern nationwide, although new construction in these areas probably slowed earlier than most of the country.


Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows the annual Orange County office vacancy rate and new construction since 1988. See Voit report for more.

In 2007 the rapid increase in the vacancy rate was due to a huge increase in new space combined with negative absorption as a number of Orange County financial companies (like New Century) went under. New construction has almost stopped, but the net absorption rate is still negative, so the vacancy rate is still rising.

Because of the concentration of subprime lenders in Orange County, the office space market was hit earlier than other areas of the country.

From the Voit report:

Net absorption for the county posted a negative 672,880 square feet for the second quarter of 2009, giving the office market a total of 1.5 million square feet of negative absorption for the year.
...
During the first half of 2009, Orange County has added a total of 171,863 square feet. Over the past three and a half years, over seven million square feet of new construction has been completed in Orange County. ... Total space under construction checked in at 166,059 square feet at the end of the second quarter, which is almost half the amount that was under construction this same time last year.

The record year for new development in Orange County was 1988, when 5.7 million square feet of new space was added. The vacancy rate peaked at approximately 24% in 1988 (the S&L crisis related office boom).

The second graph is for San Diego. The dynamics are similar, but construction halted later than in Orange County. From Voit:

During the first half of 2009, San Diego County has added a total of 600,000 square feet. Over the past three and a half years, over 9.2 million square feet of new construction has been completed in San Diego County. ... Total space under construction checked in at 956,711 square feet at the end of the second quarter, which is less than half the amount that was under construction this same time last year ...

Although Voit didn't provide a similar graph for Las Vegas, the situation is clearly worse:

At the close of the second quarter, approximately 10.9 million square feet of vacant office product remained on the market, producing an average vacancy rate of 22.1 percent. When excluding owner-user buildings, the vacancy rate jumps to 24.2 percent for speculative space. Vacancy rates are up from the 19.6 percent posted three months prior, while the comparison to the 16.9 percent vacancy rate from the second quarter of 2008 is even more dramatic.
...
Some areas are expected to reach 30-percent vacancy rates ...

The market reported 1.4 million square feet of space that remained in some form of construction. It is worth noting that approximately 0.4 million square feet is located in projects that have stalled or delayed activity.
emphasis added

New office construction has almost stopped in these markets.

by Calculated Risk on 7/14/2009 05:06:00 PM

From Reuters: Manhattan office vacancies spike to 4-1/2 yr high (ht Brian)

The overall vacancy rate -- which includes space that will become available over the next six months -- rose 0.9 percentage point from the first quarter to 10.5 percent, the highest rate since the fourth quarter 2004, when it touched 11 percent. ...

Asking rent in the second quarter fell to $60.23 per square foot, down 15.9 percent from a year ago, Cushman said.

Factoring in months of free rent and work space improvements, effective rent in Manhattan already is off 44 percent from the peak in the first quarter 2008.

Sharply lower rents, reduced leverage and much higher cap rates - Brian calls this the "neutron bomb for RE equity"; destroys CRE investors, but leaves the buildings still standing.

by Calculated Risk on 7/14/2009 03:38:00 PM

From Reuters: Obama mulls rental option for some homeowners-sources

Under one idea being discussed, delinquent homeowners would surrender ownership of their homes but would continue to live in the property for several years ... Officials are also considering whether the government should make mortgage payments on behalf of borrowers who cannot keep up with their home loans

And another surge in foreclosure activity is reported today by ForeclosureRadar:

For the third consecutive month, foreclosure sales jumped significantly as lenders come off the moratorium. Foreclosure sales increased by 24.7 percent following a 31.9 percent increase in May, and a 35 percent April increase. Notices of Trustee Sale dropped by an unexpected 28.7 percent, with the timing of the drop indicating that it was in response to the California Foreclosure Prevention Act. This law was widely believed to have little or no impact on foreclosure filings, as it exempted the majority of large lenders that operate in the state.
...
After a 4.2 percent drop the prior month, Notices of Default, the initial step in the foreclosure process, rose by 11.8 percent to the second highest level on record at 45,691 filings. Year-overyear filings increased by 10.0 percent from June of 2008.
...
A total of 22,291 foreclosures were taken to sale at auction, representing loan value of $9.57 Billion dollars; a 24.7 percent increase from the prior month, though 8.2 percent lower than the prior year. The opening bids set by lenders were an average 39.3 percent lower than the loan balance, with 46.0 percent of sales discounted by 50.0 percent or more.
...
A new statistic we are watching closely is the number of properties actively scheduled for sale – meaning that a Notice of Trustee Sale has been filed to set the auction date and time, but the foreclosure has not yet been sold or cancelled. Under California’s foreclosure code, a foreclosure sale can be postponed repeatedly for one year before a new Notice of Trustee Sale has to be filed. While postponements are quite common, they have reached record levels in recent months, swelling the number of scheduled foreclosures 90.1 percent year-over-year to 113,141.
emphasis added

by Calculated Risk on 7/14/2009 02:34:00 PM

Here come some Commercial Mortgage Backed Security (CMBS) rating cuts ...

UPDATE: From Dow Jones: Commercial Mtge-Backed Securities Index Hit By S&P Downgrades-Source

From S&P: S&P Lowers 23 Credit Suisse Comm Mortgage 2007-C3 Rtgs; 3 Afmd

NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) July 14, 2009--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today lowered its ratings on 23 classes of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) from Credit Suisse Commercial Mortgage Trust Series 2007-C3 and removed them from CreditWatch with negative implications...

The lowered ratings follow our analysis of the transaction using our recently released U.S. conduit and fusion CMBS criteria, which was the primary driver of the rating actions....

Here is an example: GSMS 2007-GG10 A4's (super senior with 30% credit support) were taken from AAA to BBB-. That is a significant cut, and below the street expectations.

This is the beginning of the rating cuts associated with the S&P June 4th release of The Potential Rating Impact Of Proposed Methodology Changes On U.S. CMBS

by Calculated Risk on 7/14/2009 12:50:00 PM

From the WSJ: Obama Says Jobless Rate Likely to Tick Up for Several Months

"[How employment numbers are going to respond is not yet clear.]^* My expectation is that we will probably continue to see unemployment tick up for several months," Mr. Obama told reporters ...

Mr. Obama, who has said he believes joblessness will soon hit 10%, will visit Michigan later Tuesday, a state already dealing with double-digit unemployment.

While he said he doesn't have a "crystal ball," Mr. Obama said he anticipates unemployment will follow historical trends and lag "for some time" even after an economic recovery begins.

On the positive side, he said the U.S. has "seen some stabilization in the financial markets, and that's good because that means companies can borrow and banks are starting to lend again."

^*Added quote from AP.

This is probably way too optimistic. Professor Roubini wrote today:

In the U.S., the unemployment rate, currently at 9.5%, is poised to rise above 10% by the fall. It should peak at 11% some time in 2010 and remain well above 10% for a long time.
...
But these raw figures on job losses, bad as they are, actually understate the weakness in world labor markets. If you include partially employed workers and discouraged workers who left the U.S. labor force, for example, the unemployment rate is already 16.5%; even temporary employment is sharply down.
...
Moreover, many employers, seeking to “share the pain” of the recession and slow down the rate of layoffs, are now asking workers to accept cuts in both hours and hourly wages. Thus, the total effect of the recession on labor income of jobs, hours and wage reductions is much larger.

Although no one has a crystal ball, it does appear the unemployment rate will rise well into 2010 - and then stay elevated for some time as the U.S. suffers with another jobless recovery.