As the real estate debt market comes to a grinding halt, it is now apparent that many loans that were made should not have been made and were made for amounts greater than the value of the properties that secure them. In the coming years, these owners will need to de-leverage and pay down debt. Specifically, in the commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS) market, between the years 2010-2012, there is $10 billion dollars of properties in the United States that will need to be refinanced. Hawaii has its fair share of those great non-recourse loans. We are currently talking with clients about strategies to pay off, pay down, or refinance these debt levels. The clients who are best off are in the second wave of financing pools, which are due between 2015 through 2017. These add up to another $375 billion dollars in properties across the country that will need to be refinanced. Many owners have not faced reality yet about the declining values of their properties, and they need to plan ahead to start paying off this debt before it comes due.
