Biderman: Life Appetite for 2013 Retail Starts Now

WASHINGTON, DC-Life companies are not taking a chance on being crowded out of the best retail deals in 2013, Walker & Dunlop’s Sandor Biderman tells GlobeSt.com. “Life companies are adopting aggressive stances now for these deals. They’re not waiting for 2013.”

Grocery-anchored retail, of course, is the preferred asset for life companies, Biderman says—indeed they have become second only to multifamily and perhaps trophy office. “Just last week we saw 10-year rates quoted as low as 3.05% and 15-year deals as low as 3.7%,” Biderman says. Those rates were for lower-leveraged transactions, but even deals with higher leverage are securing healthy financing, he says. “Those are coming in 40 to 50 basis points higher. We’re now seeing long-term money consistently price under 4%” for grocery-anchored retail.