The American Institute of Architects' Architecture Billings Index wasup 2.4 points to 48.4 in April--its highest level since January2008. Last month, AIA reported that its March ABI rating was 46.1, upfrom a reading of 44.8 the previous month.
First quarter 2010 commercial and multifamily mortgage loanoriginations, meanwhile, posted a 12% higher increase than during thesame period last year, according to MBA.
Not that these are indications of robust growth or anything close toit. In an earlier interview with GlobeSt.com, AIA chief economist Kermit Baker noted that any score below 50 can't be considered "good" as it indicates that billings revenue is still declining. However, the March rating was the highest score since August2008--until this month. Baker was unable to return a call to GlobeSt.com about this month's figures in time for publication.
MBA's statistics also are a mixed blessing--Q1's 12% increase is still 26% lower than during the fourth quarter of 2009. Some of that is seasonal, Jamie Woodwell, MBA's vice president of commercial real estate research, tells GlobeSt.com, noting that originations tend to be low in Q1 every year. "But they are still at very low levels compared to activity in 2005, 2006 and 2007." Part of the problem is ongoing low demand, he says. "Market conditions are still putting downward pressure on transactions--for manyproperty owners there aren't a lot of reasons to sell but there are a lot of reasons to hold onto a property."
Lending activity in Q1 was driven mainly by originations for officeand retail properties, MBA reports. There was a 98% increase in loansfor retail properties, a 29% increase in loans for office properties,a 5% decrease in loans for multifamily properties, a 28% decrease inloans for industrial properties, a 46% decrease in hotel propertyloans and a 68% decrease in health care property loans.
Among investor types, loans for conduits for CMBS saw an increase of657% compared to last year's first quarter. There was also a 131%increase in loans for life insurance companies and a 4% decrease inloans for commercial bank portfolios. Also, the dollar volume of loansfor Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw a decrease of 49%.
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Erika Morphy
Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.
