The commercial real estate lending had been on the rocks for quite a while.  But with a credit crunch that severe, it must have already hit rock bottom.  Therefore, there really is no other way to go but up.  That is very mush apparent on the West Coast as it looks like there is more money available there at the moment.  Finally, for anyone who owns commercial property and is unable to roll over their loans, they must now be thinking that there is light at the end of the tunnel after all.

From Reuters:

The lack of financing has been a chief cause of falling values on office, retail and apartment buildings since 2007, forcing sales at depressed prices. To avoid that, lenders have been busy extending or renegotiating loans, aiming to mitigate investor losses.

Tight credit has exacerbated the effect of the U.S. recession, which has increased vacancies and reduced rents to a point where revenue is falling short of debt payments.

But recent signs of “aggressive”  competition to fund office properties, including from insurance companies and foreign banks, mean borrowers could find it tougher to seek breaks on existing loans, the analysts, led by Darrell Wheeler, said in a research note. With more access to funding, they argued, prices would be buoyed, making foreclosures viable alternatives.