At the CREFC Annual Conference held earlier this month, CEO Lisa Pendergast summed up the current state of commercial real estate finance in an interview with Connect CRE. She characterized the industry as moving into a “constructive period,” despite the challenges of high interest rates.
“We have a significant amount–billions of dollars of loans that are maturing, that have 4% coupons on their mortgage rate, and yet we’re now talking somewhere in the 6.5% – 7% [range] if you were to refinance today,” Pendergast told Connect CRE. She added that she was “not too optimistic” that we’ll be seeing significant rate cuts soon, but once the elevated inflation rate comes down, refinancing can proceed in a much more “accretive” way.
In the video below, Pendergast also reflected on a CRE finance career that has spanned decades, and offered advice to industry members in the early stages of their own careers.
