Commercial Lending

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Scrutiny of commercial property lending has been "dialled up", the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chairman Wayne Byres said yesterday.
Commenting on the 10 percent growth cap imposed on bank investor loan portfolios - with actual rates of growth sitting at around half that rate - Byres advised the cap, initially announced in December 2014, was "always intended to be temporary [and] it is still our view that it will be temporary, so we are certainly thinking about the next evolution of what we do". 
But Mr Byres said "there is no doubt we have dialled up the intensity of our focus" on commercial property lending.
He was at an event at the Actuaries Institute. 
"In the history of banking, commercial property has always been front and centre whenever there have been any serious issues in the system. So it is natural that at times when valuations look to be on the high side, we are making sure the lending quality of the banks and the basis on which they are assessing credit is maintaining a healthy degree of prudence about it." 
The challenge when monitoring commercial lending is that it is less homogenous than standard housing loans, but "it is natural at this part of the cycle that supervisors are going to pay particular attention to it." 
At the same time APRA announced the investor lending caps, it also said banks should assess borrowers' capacity to pay their mortgages using an interest rate buffer of at least 2 per cent more than the actual interest rate on the loan, with a floor lending rate of at least 7 percent. 
Mr Byres said these rules are working well. "The 7 percent number is a useful mechanism to keep serviceability standards at a certain level and not have those serviceability standards shift with general interest rate movements up and down," he said.  
At the same event, National Australia Bank's global head of research Peter Jolly said residential house prices had been driven by low mortgage interest rates, foreign demand from Chinese buyers, and population growth outstripping supply of residential dwellings. He said the second and third of these drivers were now waning.
But Mr Jolly warned that the ratio of Australian household debt to GDP was the highest in a recent analysis by the Bank of International Settlements of 40 major economies. 
"There is no way to get around the fact that Australian households are very leveraged on any reasonable measure. The reality is pretty stark that household debt is high....There is no doubt in my mind that affordability may be around average, but households are a bit more vulnerable to either interest rates going up - which doesn't seem likely - or an interruption in their income," he said.  
"In the history of banking, commercial property has always been front and centre whenever there have been any serious issues in the system. So it is natural that at times when valuations look to be on the high side, we are making sure the lending quality of the banks and the basis on which they are assessing credit is maintaining a healthy degree of prudence about it.
He suggested the challenge when monitoring commercial lending was that it is less homogenous than standard housing loans, but "it is natural at this part of the cycle that supervisors are going to pay particular attention to it." 
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jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

APRA watching commercial property lending for prudence

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The banking regulator has nudged banks to improve their standards in commercial lending, saying sound underwriting standards are important for the safety of the banking system and the financial system as whole. 
The letter from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority comes in the wake of its review of the commercial property sector in 2016 after a surge in prices owing to more offshore demand from sovereign wealth funds and pension funds.  
The letter starts with the statement that commercial property lending “has historically been a source of significant loss for banks, both in Australia and overseas,” and goes on to say that lenders have not properly managed their risk profile of for commercial lending due to inadequate data, poor monitoring and incomplete portfolio controls. 
The APRA said it expects authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) to improve their capabilities in this area, and has written to individual lenders about their specific requirements.
The note states that under “current market conditions, it is important that the Boards of ADIs are conscious of the settings for underwriting standards and portfolio controls, and in a position to challenge as appropriate”.
Sound credit underwriting standards are fundamental to the safety and soundness of lenders, as well as the stability of the financial system as a whole, it adds. “This is particularly the case in the area of commercial property lending, which has historically been the source of significant credit losses for the Australian banking industry. “
It said the review found that many ADIs fell short of expectations regarding portfolio controls for commercial property, driven in part by "an underinvestment in information systems, leading to challenges in extracting portfolio data".
The letter states it is “critical that ADIs maintain appropriate standards through the credit cycle, and are prepared to tighten those standards as circumstances dictate”. 
It noted that though there was a general tightening of underwriting standards, especially for residential development lending, it hadn’t been uniform and lenders would do well to ensure that they are not unduly accepting greater risk as other lenders step back. 
Banks have been particularly careful about lending to investors in the residential sector, with Commonwealth Bank and its subsidiary, BankWest, recently taking steps to curb refinancing of investor loans.
On commercial lending, the regulator said it expects ADIs to manage “not only the risk of individual loans but also consider build-ups in risk at the portfolio level”. 
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prateek24-ezbwHMbNAk

APRA cautions banks on poor commercial lending standards 

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Investment bank Goldman Sachs wants to fill the gap in commercial lending created by a tightening by major banks, and will finance $1 billion in loans to residential developers.
The loans could range across a mix of residential and commercial lending and will centre around construction and development loans, but not mortgages.
Ever since local banks tightened their lending for development and construction loans about 18 months ago to cut down their exposure to the housing boom, many developers were left stranded without funds for their planned apartment projects.
Goldman Sachs wants to use this opportunity for lending, but would charge a higher interest rate, according to The Australian Financial Review’s Street Talk column.
Goldman plans to operate at the same level as banks, exercising the same credit review and due diligence as major lenders.
Street Talk cited sources close to Goldman Sachs saying all prospective deals would be carefully examined, and only high-quality projects and experienced developers will be considered. The global investment bank is eyeing deals above $100 million.
The bank will also consider non-real estate commercial loans.
Sources said millions of dollars have already been committed towards senior, stretched senior loans and first mortgages over projects. Mezzanine funding is also being considered.
Many groups such as Balmain, the largest commercial lender outside the major Australian banks, Wingate, Chifley Securities, Alceon and Qualitas have been active in this space.
Also in the game are more "shadowy" lenders such as high net worth clubs, with funds obtained from local and foreign sources as well as various foreign banks. 
The surge in this sector, though still small at 6 per cent of the entire financial market, had prompted the Reserve Bank to say in its last financial stability review that increased non-bank securitisation especially in mortgage related products warranted "ongoing attention".
 
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j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

Goldman Sachs starts commercial lending to developers

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EXPERT OBSERVER 
Over the last 12 months banks have been continuing to ramp up scrutiny on commercial property assets. 
There has been more attention paid to interest cover for investment assets however anticipated interest rate cuts and the recent reduction of bank bill swap bid rate (BBSY) will likely lead to some relief. 
An emerging trend that has largely flown under the radar is the additional consideration lenders now apply to both the underlying asset class and tenancy profile of individual assets. 
Borrowers must show their tenancy strategy is sustainable because lenders are increasingly wary of perceived risky asset classes and ultimately want to know who will be paying the interest bill. 
Asset classes that are favoured in market experience directly benefit in debt markets. 
Broadly speaking, this has recently applied to both the industrial and commercial office asset classes. For example, we are seeing bank margins for prime commercial assets well below 200 basis points, a reduction of roughly 20 per cent since the start of 2019. 
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Conversely, specialised asset classes are at the whim of changing lender appetite and the class suffering the most right now is retail property. 
Some retail properties are experiencing significant challenges resulting from online disruptors and changing consumer behaviour, with reduced non-discretionary spend directly impacting on tenant cash flow. These factors subsequently impact borrowing capacity on retail assets with heightened bank scrutiny on tenants. 
Any asset holder with a high proportion of tenants with businesses that depend on discretionary spend will find it difficult to obtain finance. Bricks and mortar retail remains an ongoing challenge - especially when tenants have visible trading issues. 
But for those managing assets with sustainable, long-term income from quality tenant agreements, values should hold or firm. This is because these assets can attract debt, and debt appears to be getting cheaper thanks to the reductions in BBSY and lender margins. 
Remember that now more than ever before tenants are under the microscope along with all the financials of the asset, so it’s in your best interest to make sure your tenant is looking up to scratch when it comes to securing finance. It really has never been more important to keep up appearances.
Michael Hynes is the director of Stamford Capital.
 
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