Monday, March 3, 2008

The Real Estate Capital Scoreboard tm - March 2008

CHICAGO, ILL, March 3, 2008 - Availability of funds and correspondingly
widening mortgage pricing dominate the real estate finance front. While
mortgage funds are available, many lenders retreat from direct originations,
instead preferring to purchase attractively-priced, CMBS securities.

As such, mortgage pricing highlights are outlined as follows:

* Overall Treasury Movement: Treasuries bounced 40 to 50 basis points
during the month, settling about 25 basis point lower and 10 basis points,
for 5- and 10-year terms respectively. Mortgage spreads widened
dramatically, by as much as 50 basis points.

* Fixed-Rate Pricing: Loans are increasingly being priced based on
floors rather than spreads or swaps. Most floors are in the 6%-or-higher
range for 10-year permanent funds. Nevertheless, pricings reflect wide
yield curve expectations, depending mostly on the funding source. For
instance, life company spreads vary dramatically, starting about 230 basis
points over comparable-term treasuries. A substantial gap exists thereafter
as Wall Street CMBS deals are priced on the high-end of the curve starting
at 500 basis points.

* Floating-Rate Pricing: 3% floor for Libor is surfacing as a variable
rates yield protection tool, otherwise 170 to 225 basis points available to
premium borrowers at banks. Real estate value-added floaters are priced 225
to 300+ bps over Libor. Recourse traded for lower leverage with banks.

* Forward Delivery Pricing: 60 to 90 days free, followed by two to
five basis points per month, extending to 24 months total.

* Large Loan Premiums: 30 bps +/- premium for "jumbo" loans in excess
of $100 million.

* Interest Rate Swaps: In light of expected lower rates, sophisticated
borrowers are exploring swaps. As result, interest rate hedging programs
are gaining popularly especially for shorter-term loans of seven years or
less.

The Real Estate Capital Institute's advisory board member, Barry Moss, notes
"In many instances, current CMBS pricing reflects a discount for any
security that is in a 'structure' and is not reflective of the underlying
real estate." He adds, "The key is to do due diligence and understand the
collateral, since depending on the quality of the underwriting and the
specific vintage there can be issues."

Call the Real Estate Capital RateLine at 7RE-CAPITAL (773-227-4825) for hourly rate updates.

The Real Estate Capital Institute(r)
3517 West Arthington Street
Chicago, Illinois USA 60624

Contact:
Nat Zvislo,
Research Director
Toll Free 800-994-RECI (7324)
Email: director@reci.com
Web: www.reci.com

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