Goodwin Decodes State of Capital Markets at Upcoming Annual Conference

NEW YORK CITY– Goodwin and Columbia Business School are hosting its 13th Annual Real Estate Capital Markets Conference tomorrow, bringing together industry leaders from across the sector, including an audience of real estate fund managers, REIT executives, real estate investors, investment bankers and start-ups. The RECM Conference 2020 will focus on the state of the real estate capital markets, global capital flows, smart cities and climate change, as well as a market-focused session on London.

And while there is a lot to discuss, a big question that many in the space are trying to answer and hope the conference will bring some clarity to is what inning the market is in. After 10 years of economic recovery and a surfeit amount of capital and low-interest rates, many are stunned the bull is still running.

 “There are seemingly a number of headwinds in the U.S. with an election year approaching and with the presidential impeachment taking place late in the cycle, both of which are also coinciding with low-interest rates. There are a bunch of signs, not all of which are pointing in the same directions, and how these themes play out will be rather interesting for the market,” said John Ferguson, a partner in the firm’s real estate practice and co-head of the private investment funds practice, to GlobeSt.com.

 Among the many topics to dissect during the half-day conference, include anticipation around the debt markets and the increased number of debt funds that have come online amid low-interest rates. Another focus will be the accessibility of debt loan-to-value ratios versus debt and equity, according to Ferguson. “It hasn’t seemed to have gotten as extreme as 2008,” he said. “A lot of debt is cheap and plays to transaction and value, but at the same time it doesn’t seem to have gotten more out of hand than it has in previous cycles.”