Whether comparing it to the prior quarter or a year earlier, commercial transaction volume leapt at HFF Inc. The company’s chief is cautiously optimistic about upcoming activity.
The volume of commercial real estate financing was 140 transactions $5.3 billion in the second quarter, the company reported.
Volume doubled from around $2.6 billion in the first quarter. A 224 percent increase from $1.6 billion a year prior was largely the result of one large investment sales portfolio transaction.
The Pittsburgh-based firm said second-quarter activity included $2.7 billion in investment sales, $2.2 billion in debt placement and $0.3 billion in loan sales. The remaining activity was structured finance transactions.
“Improved conditions in the public markets have led to continuing improvements in certain sectors of the private debt and equity markets that serve the U.S. commercial real estate markets for select transactions, especially in the major markets, when compared to 2009,” HFF Chief Executive Officer John H. Pelusi Jr. explained in the report. “These improvements, coupled with an improved economic climate in the U.S. economy when compared to 2008 and 2009, continue to create a more conducive environment for certain types of commercial real estate transactions to occur with more frequency in select markets throughout the U.S. when compared to 2009.”
Still, Pelusi warned about the possible impact from recently enacted financial reform legislation, “stubbornly high unemployment,” and the capital and commercial real estate markets.
The company serviced 2,031 loans for $24.9 billion as of June 30. Mortgage notes receivable were $36 million, and $36 million was owed on a warehouse line.
Earnings before taxes were $9 million, better than less than $1 million in the previous quarter and a small loss a year earlier.
