Can CRE Handle a Fall Interest Rate Hike?

OAKLAND, CA-We’ve said it for months . . . maybe years. At some point, record-low, flat-as-a-lake interest rates are going to rise. Now that they have—from 1.76% to 2.56%, the guesswork as to how much higher they will go, and what further impact they will have, can begin.

And even though Fed chief Ben Bernanke swears that the fall easing of QE2 won’t move the interest-rate needle, there are those who are less sure. “Interest rates have been historically low, and that’s because of government intervention,” Susan Persin, locally based senior research director for Trepp, tells GlobeSt.com. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they went up further. How far, I can’t predict.”