Les investisseurs immobiliers américains cherchent des débouchés dans la crise de la dette européenne

Infographie : F. Descheemaekere

American Real Estate Investors Seek Opportunities in European Debt Crisis

[The New York Times]

While the world is anxiously watching to see how the European debt crisis will unfold, many real estate investors in the United States are eagerly seeking opportunities to reap profits from the Continent’s distress.

Private equity firms, whose investors include pension funds, university endowments and foundations, have been vying to buy portfolios of European bank debt consisting of troubled commercial real estate mortgages. By acquiring these loans at deep discounts, they hope eventually to earn generous returns of 12 to 18 percent, investors and advisers say. […] Commercial mortgage-backed securities, real estate loans that are packaged together and sold to investors, are not as common in Europe as in the United States. Instead, most European mortgages remained on the banks’ books, which has been a drag on profits.As the sovereign debt crisis continues, European banks are expected to sell such distressed assets in an effort to increase their capital and protect against future losses.
Morgan Stanley estimates that such institutions may have to cut their exposure to commercial real estate by up to $760 billion.

Lire : nytimes.com