Lending Activity Ticks Up, But Will it Last?

Approximately four months after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the US economy, capital markets have stabilized into a new normal, according to a report from brokerage Marcus & Millichap.

Lending activity is slowly increasing, the report said, with capital flowing to borrowers with established track records, cash in the bank and “high-quality assets with secure cash flows.”
“We see more and more lenders edging back in, although no one would call it a borrowers’ market,” the report concluded.

The easing market is attracting borrowers looking at refinancing while interest rates hover near historic lows. In July, Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. reported closing more than a half-billion dollars in commercial real estate loans with 79 lenders. The strict underwriting terms that characterized the market over the last three months is loosening somewhat.