A rise in insurance costs is making real estate investors think twice about where and when to buy. Global insurance prices rose nearly 11% in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to a new report by Marsh. It’s the ninth consecutive quarter of price increases. “At the beginning of last year, we’ve noticed an upward trend of pricing increases, particularly or property insurance premiums,” said Paul Foye, U.S. real estate practice leader at Marsh. This has a particularly large impact on the commercial real estate industry as property insurance makes up a large portion of their risk-management costs, he added. Property pricing in the US increased 18% in the final quarter of 2019, which is the highest level recorded since the survey began in 2012. Casualty pricing was up by just a bit, by 2%. “Much of the overall casualty pricing increase was driven by the excess liability market, where prices increased nearly 10%,” the report stated. Click to read more at www.mpamag.com.

SAN DIEGO (February 9, 2020) – A 7 percent increase in commercial and multifamily mortgage originations in the fourth quarter of 2019 capped off what was a strong 2019 for the market, according to preliminary estimates from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations, released here today at the 2020 Commercial Real Estate Finance/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo. “Commercial and multifamily borrowing and lending hit a new high during the fourth quarter of 2019, surpassing the previous record from the second quarter of 2007,” said Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research. “A pullback in lending by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac suppressed multifamily borrowing during the quarter, but growth for most other property types made up the difference. Initial indications are that 2019 set new records, with double-digit growth in mortgage bankers originations, as well as new highs in originations for banks and life insurance companies.” Added Woodwell, “Low-interest rates and solid property fundamentals should help 2020 continue the trend of record borrowing and lending.” Originations climb 7 Percent in the fourth quarter of 2019. Click to read more at www.mba.org.

It has been a tough decade for brick-and-mall retailers, and matters seem only to be getting worse. Despite a strong consumer economy, physical retailers closed more than 9,000 stores in 2019 — more than the total in 2018, which surpassed the record of 2017. Already this year, retailers have announced more than 1,200 more intended closings, including 125 Macy’s stores. Some people call what has happened to the shopping landscape “the retail apocalypse.” It is easy to chalk it up to the rise of e-commerce, which has thrived while physical stores struggle. And there is no denying that Amazon and other online retailers have changed consumer behavior radically or that big retailers like Walmart and Target have tried to beef up their own online presence. But this can be overstated. To begin with, while e-commerce is growing sharply, it may not be nearly as big as you think. The Census Bureau keeps official track. Online sales have grown tremendously in the last 20 years, rising from $5 billion per quarter to almost $155 billion per quarter. But Internet shopping still represents only 11 percent of the entire retail sales total. Click to read more at www.msn.com.