Archive for October, 2009

Five news channels for RENX new website

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

With the launch of a new website RENX is taking a bold step toward changing how Canadian real estate professionals consider news about their industry.  The new website is offering five news channels: two new channels Infrastructure and Canadian listed properties in addition to the existing three channels: Commercial, Residential and Green Real Estate News.

As RENX broadens its scope of coverage, it is moving away from the narrow interpretation of ‘real estate’ made by main stream publishers.  Most news services target home owners with  a single ‘home and condo’ section. RENX’s intent is to redefine ‘real estate news’ to encompass the entire built environment by pulling together all the news on this topic into one online location.

Expanding into new industries with the launch of this website is a natural progression following from steps RENX has taken in the past.

RENX started  in 2001 with one channel  publishing as the Commercial Real Estate News (commercialrealestatenews.ca).  From the beginning RENX has provided an informative, thorough and edited summary of news available on the Internet for industry professionals.

In 2004 the Residential Real Estate News (residentialrealestatenews.ca) was launched as a venue for collecting news on that subject.

At that time concern about Environmental issues particularly climate change was gaining momentum.  Green Building Councils were forming in the U.S. and the Canadian Green Building Council had just been established in Canada.

With the RENX subscriber base in the thousands, the logistics of operating two separate websites and mailing lists from a desktop computer had run its course.  A more sophisticated database driven site with email list management services was required.

In 2005, the Real Estate News Exchange name was coined and site we very recently retired, first opened.  Shortly thereafter the Green Building News was added as a third channel.   The old RENX  website served as a sturdy and reliable platform that has delivered it to this point.

In 2009, RENX service has over 8,000 subscribers and serves up about 130,000 page views a month.  It has secured a place in the industry with a loyal following particularly among Commercial real estate professionals.

Now infrastructure issues and the increasing role of cities in the evolution of the built environment is driving news content.   Government expenditures on infrastructure stimulus spending has provided further reason for it to become a break away topic for RENX.

Over the last five years Canadian listed properties, particularly Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) but also Real Estate Operating Companies (REOC) have flourished as they are seen, in spite of recent economic events, as stable income producing securities by both individual and institutional investors.  It too has emerged as a topic with its own readership and deserving of dedicated attention.

If this wasn’t reason enough for a new website, changes in news publishing both print and online, social media, mobile devices, Blogs, changes in email news, content management software, each in their own way, are a compelling reason to launch a new RENX website.

Over the years, RENX has struggled with how to provide original content without compromising our existing news service.  Our most fervent hope for for the future is that we will finally be able to provide our own news stream.

Attracting sheer numbers of readers to a news site plays a significant role in its ability to attract more subscribers and generate advertising revenue.  We hope that the expanded scope will provide sufficient resources to hire professional writers on something more than an occasional basis.

Anyone who has developed a complex websites will understand that it can be an overwhelming task that takes months to plan and execute. I am happy to say it is almost finished.

I am grateful to have benefited from the sage advice and hard work of a talented team of software developers at Gossamer Threads in Vancouver.  I look forward to expanding RENX capability with them in the future.

It is terrific that opening day has finally arrived and I will shortly be able to return to writing and editing content for RENX.

RENX will be one of the topics addressed in this blog but its real focus will be to provide news, commentary and an editorial perspective on the Canadian built environment.  Please return to read RENX Writes.

Posted in Commercial, Green, Infrastructure, REOC - REITs, Residential | No Comments »

Does more information equal greater transparency

Monday, October 12th, 2009

This week’s news about Canadian residential real estate housing trends is a good example of the overwhelming amount of data available on this topic.

One RENX edition of the Residential Weekly Newsletter included housing market information from ReMax, Coldwell Banker, Royal LePage, Statistics Canada, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Canadian Real Estate Association, the Toronto Real Estate Board and Scotia Economics.

Information in this case refers to either a news release issued by a company or an article where their expertise is profiled in the report.

ReMax issued a news release that was an analysis of Canadian Real Estate Association data. A Google search on this topic generated 55 references. RENX selected 3 relevant articles including ReMax Canada News Wire Release for publication in the newsletter.

In Google  there were 67 news stories that referenced CREA, 171 concerning Statistics Canada and 32 news stories that refer to CMHC for a total of 270 articles.

RENX gladly accepts the task of narrowing down the news to a digestible and relevant selection on behalf of our readers. Furthermore one of the goals for the year ahead is to establish a reasoned and simple way of organizing and presenting this information. While we already do this to the best of our ability, we think it can be vastly improved.

Besides the sheer volume of information, another challenge is how various organizations present data. For example what is the definition of a home or a house? Is a house a duplex or semi-detached? Here again RENX is setting out to clarify these issues.

The amount of information, analysis and differences in the way data is presented in news releases and articles begs the question how many people truly understand what they are reading? Is is really contributing to the transparency of the market place? Is it written primarily for the business community or the consumer?

These are some of questions RENX plans to explore in the year ahead in the RENX Residential Newsletter.

Posted in Residential | No Comments »

Re-packaged CMBS through Re-REMIC could expand to Canada

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

While the recession persists there are signs that the conditions for a global real estate recovery are emerging according to Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Global Market Perspective released on July 14th. JLL predicts the recession will continue to the end of 2009 or early 2010 and that the recovery in the commercial real estate market will lag the economy by 12 to 24 months.

The report describes economic and market conditions in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Japan, China and Australia by comparing 12 global real estate health factors such as interest rates, GDP, retail trade and consumer confidence. It says that as long as employment remains weak vacancy rates will continue to rise and real estate investment will be restrained.

The U.K. is described as ‘way out ahead’ with respect to the re-pricing process. The sale of Bishops Square in London is used as a benchmark transaction indicating a 62% decline in capital value falling from a peak in 2007 to (USD) $721 per meter squared.

The property markets in Australia, Japan and Germany’s are next in line to reprice while the U.S. is trailing quite significantly. Commercial owners in the U.S. are described as taking steps to avoid selling prices that are expected to be half of their peaks in 2007 in what is described as the “delay and pray” approach.

Using 1540 Broadway as a U.S. benchmark the JLL report shows a 78% decline in value for this property to (USD) $335 per square meter. This price drop is significantly more than the anticipated 30% to 50% decline frequently referenced in the media today.

The report notes that “markets that have re-priced most rapidly and aggressively, such as London, are the ones attracting greater investor interest.”

A reincarnation of Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities in the U.S. may bring the real estate credit market back to life. The revival is coming in the form of a Re-REMIC which is a restructuring and re-issuance of existing Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit. Re-REMIC issuers are taking existing CMBS and repackaging the bonds to create a new AAA security.

There have been six Re-REMIC transactions announced in the U.S. since June 18 that, when closed, will have raised $1 billion. The report says that this type of transaction is likely to spread around the world starting in Canada, if the economic incentive exists.

The trend toward Re-REMIC is further described in an article titled Morgan Stanley Plans to Turn Downgraded Loan CDO Into AAA Bonds published on July 8th in Bloomberg Online.

There is some skepticism expressed in various news services as to whether Re-REMIC will be workable on an ongoing basis. An article published July 15th in Bloomberg JPMorgan, Goldman 2008 Mortgage Resecuritizations Cut to Junk suggests there are grounds to question the wide spread application of a Re-REMIC solution to the re-issuance of CMBS .

There will no doubt be more news concerning Re-REMIC and its relationship to the CMBS in the U.S. as issues concerning the stagnant lending market are addresses along with the repricing of U.S. commercial real estate.

Lets see if Re-REMIC makes it across the border to Canada or around the World.

Posted in Commercial | No Comments »