Zoe Hughes

A study released by INREV at the ExpoReal conference has revealed that almost two-thirds of fund managers are reviewing the terms of their vehicles, with many set to extend. It's a 'question of timing', INREV tells PERE.

Real estate prices are set to decline by up to 25 percent in developed markets, according to Townsend co-founder Kevin Lynch. However he said there were plenty of opportunities amid the distress, telling PERE at the ExpoReal conference in Munich that investors were increasing their allocations to the asset class.

Private equity real estate GPs are ‘reluctantly’ beginning to change the terms of their funds as the capital fundraising market swings increasingly in favor of LPs, according to institutional investors at the PREA conference.

Following the defeat of the White House’s $700bn financial rescue package, economist and LECG director, Alan Madian, has argued the proposed legislation should only buy mortgage securities backed by real assets and provide for direct infusions of capital.

The US arm of ING Real Estate has closed its Clarion Development Ventures III fund, which will target all property sectors in the US, including distressed land sales.

The US industry body, the Real Estate Roundtable, said the US government’s $700bn plan to buy-up troubled mortgage-related assets had a high ‘price tag,’ but argued that it was the best way forward.

The $80.1bn Washington State Investment Board has approved $1.7bn in commitments, including $900m to two RE funds. The pension also committed $600m to private equity funds and $250m to infrastructure and commodities.

The specter of a return to the 1989 Resolution Trust Corporation was raised today as the US Treasury said it would introduce a ‘relief program’ for troubled mortgage assets. If formed, the program would consolidate an enormous pool of assets for opportunistic buyers to feast upon.

As part of a frantic weekend on Wall Street, Bank of America has agreed to acquire Merrill Lynch, including its investment management business. A spokesman said it was ‘too early’ to tell whether the deal would include Merrill’s private equity portfolio, or whether it would spin out as an independent firm.

The real estate investment management firm has appointed Jack Hsu as investor services director in Hong Kong in a bid to boost CBRE’s capital raising abilities in China, Singapore and Taiwan.