Bank Contagion Fears Shake The Foundation Of Commercial Real Estate At Its Core The lifeblood of the commercial real estate industry is under threat as regional banks reel from the recent marquee failures of two of their own. Roughly 80% of U.S. commercial real estate lending is provided by banks that have assets of less than $250B, Goldman Sachs economists wrote in a recent report. Increasingly those loans — worth a combined $2.3T, according to Trepp — are being looked at as another source of stress for small and regional banks. With Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank being taken over by regulators and First Republic Bank needing emergency cash infusions to stay solvent, fear of broader contagion is likely to curtail regional banks’ lending activity, which could leave a huge swath of CRE investors struggling to find the money. “I think a… Read the full story here. | | |