The commercial real estate (CRE) securitization market has remained hot, even while much of the country has been in a deep freeze. Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) private-label issuance was $7.9 billion (13 deals) in January, and CRE collateralized loan obligation (CLO) issuance made a meaningful contribution of $7.5 billion (seven deals), representing 48% of total CRE securitization issuance. Based on current visibility, February issuance could see up to 24 deals, including 12 single-borrower (SB), six CRE CLO, five conduit, and one Freddie Mac K-Series (Agency) deal.
The January conduit benchmark last cash flow (LCF) AAA class was at an average of swaps (S) +72 basis points (bps) based on the three conduit deals that were priced between S +70 bps and S +75 bps. Two conduits were five-year deals, and one was a 10-year deal.
Rating Activity
In January, KBRA published pre-sales for 11 deals ($9.1 billion), including four SB ($3.3 billion), three conduits ($2.4 billion), two…