CMBS is alive, but is it well?

In the all out war raging against the meaningful rebirth of the private-label, mortgage-backed securitization model, the commercial end of the market often looks and acts like the innocent bystander. Even now, more than two years after the 2008 financial crisis, stagnant jobs growth, weak gross domestic product growth and tight commercial financing hampers the recovery of commercial real estate. While the fall from grace of residential mortgage-backed securities took commercial mortgage-backed securities with it, CMBS problems paled by comparison. The fourth quarter numbers are astounding. The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that conduit loans for CMBS saw a 60-fold increase compared to last year’s fourth quarter.