Real estate billionaire Barrack says commercial mortgages on brink of collapse

New York

REAL estate billionaire Tom Barrack said the US commercial-mortgage market is on the brink of collapse and predicted a "domino effect" of catastrophic economic consequences if the banks and government do not take prompt action to keep borrowers from defaulting.

The chairman and chief executive officer of Colony Capital warned in a white paper of a chain reaction of margin calls, mass foreclosures, evictions and, potentially, bank failures due to the novel coronavirus pandemic and consequent shutdown of much of the US economy.

The paper was posted late on Sunday on online publishing platform Medium.

"Loan repayment demands are likely to escalate on a systemic level, triggering a domino effect of borrower defaults that will swiftly and severely impact the broad range of stakeholders in the entire real estate market, including property and home owners, landlords, developers, hotel operators and their respective tenants and employees," he wrote.

He said the impact could dwarf that of the Great Depression.

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Specifically, his paper highlights the fragility of mortgage real estate investment trusts (Reits) and credit funds, and the lenders that provide them with liquidity via repurchase financing.

He argues for a rescue plan coordinated by banks and supported by government that includes the following:

Mr Barrack, a long-time friend of President Donald Trump, has much at stake in the outcome.

Most of Colony's investments are in or connected to real estate.

The Los Angeles-based firm's year-end financial report lists US$3.54 billion of assets in hospitality real estate and US$725 million in debt and equity investments at Colony Credit Real Estate, its publicly-traded commercial mortgage Reit. BLOOMBERG