U.S. commercial real state prices rose again in July, but that’s far from a signal that the market is recovering. Citing Moody’s Commercial Property Price Index, Bloomberg News reported that prices rose 5 percent from June, and sit 1.2 percent higher than July 2010. Moreover, the index is almost 13 percent higher than where it stood in April, the post-bubble low. July was the third straight month of price growth.

But the gains are coming from the rise in trades of smaller assets outside major markets such as Boston, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. [more]

U.S. commercial property prices saw their third straight monthly increase in November, up 0.6 percent over their level in October, and 2.8 percent over their level in November 2009, according to a new report from Moody’s Investors Service. Since the eight-year nationwide low of August 2009, prices have climbed by a total of 8.4 percent, aided by the addition of 1.1 million jobs last year, which helped boost demand for office properties, Bloomberg News reported.  [more]

With U.S. home prices down by almost a third from their spring 2006 peak, property owners are flooding city and state governments with tax appeals in a trend that’s sure to put even more downward pressure on already tight budgets, according to Businessweek. New Jerseyans filed a record 18,147 appeals during the last fiscal year, up 80 percent from fiscal 2007. Meanwhile, Atlantic City has used up its entire $26 million reserve for tax appeals, and the pending appeals on all casinos there have caused the city’s credit rating to drop to three levels above speculative grade, Moody’s Investors Service said last month. [more]

According to a recently released list of rent ratios from Moody’s — the price of a typical home divided by the annual cost of renting that home — it may be better to rent a home in Manhattan rather than buy one. Out of 55 metropolitan areas across the country, Manhattan ranked eighth on the list with a rent ratio of 26.7. “A good rule of thumb is that you should often buy when the ratio is below 15 and rent when the ratio is above 20,” according to the New York Times. “If it’s between 15 and 20, lean toward renting — unless you find a home you really like and expect to stay there for many years.” Central New Jersey had a rent ratio of 25.2, while Long Island’s ratio was lower, at 21.4. East Bay, Calif. was at the top of the list, with a rent ratio of 35.9. [NYT]

Housing experts are predicting a nationwide decline in home prices, according to CNN Money, as weak employment, tight lending and the robo-signing fiasco hamper hopes for a comeback. Analytics firm Fiserv had been optimistic regarding market stabilization earlier this year, predicting in February a 4 percent gain by the end of 2011. Now, the company has reversed its sentiment, saying it foresees a 7.1 percent drop by mid-2011. Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody’s Analytics, said he expects home prices across the country to be down another 8 percent by this time next year. If Zandi’s prediction comes to fruition, the total peak-to-trough decline would hit 34 percent. [CNN Money]

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New York City’s commercial real estate market showed increased stability in the third quarter, according to a report from Moody’s released today. The New York City market scored a 76 on Moody’s CMBS index, ranking it second-best among the cities tracked, behind Honolulu, which scored a 78. Commercial real estate markets continued to improve nationwide in the third quarter, the report shows, with all property types tracked showing an improvement on the Moody’s index. The hotel sector experienced the greatest quarter-over-quarter improvement, climbing 30 points to a score of 54, while the central business district office market showed a five-point gain, reaching a 60-point index score. While Keith Banhazl, a Moody’s senior analyst, said that there’s reason to be optimistic, he said that the overall market is still on soft footing. “In general, the commercial real estate markets remain in the uncertain… range,” Banhazl said. “However, the future appears to brighten with each passing quarter.” TRD

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Commercial real estate prices fell 3.3 percent nationwide in August, according to Moody’s, marking the third time in a row that prices dropped between 3 percent and 4 percent month-over-month. The decline brings the Moody’s commercial property price index to its lowest point since the market downturn began, surpassing the previous low point recorded in October 2009. The index is now 45.1 percent below its peak from October 2007, according to Nick Levidy, managing director of Moody’s. “The commercial real estate market in the U.S. has become trifurcated with prices rising for performing trophy assets located in major market, [while] falling sharply for distressed assets, and remaining essentially flat for smaller healthy properties,” Levidy said. TRD

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The delinquency rate among commercial mortgage-backed securities climbed gradually in September, according to Moody’s monthly CMBS report. Delinquencies climbed 14 basis points on the Moody’s index, hitting 8.24 percent, marking the smallest monthly increase since October 2008. The 311 loans that became newly delinquent last month had a combined value of $3.8 billion and brought the total number of delinquent loans to 3,971, representing $52 billion in debt. Nick Levidy, a managing director with Moody’s, said that while the rate of increase among CMBS delinquencies was modest last month, it’s far too soon to celebrate. “This easing of the rate of growth in the delinquency rate does not necessarily portend a near-term improvement in the market,” Levidy said. “The number and balance of loans becoming newly delinquent remain high.” TRD

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A housing recovery already? No way, say some economists. Moody’s economists say that the likelihood of a double-dip in the nationwide housing market is “uncomfortably high,” according to DSNews. The tracking firm is decidedly pessimistic about the nationwide housing market, and Celia Chen, a senior director with Moody’s, said that overall economic conditions spell bad news for a housing comeback. “We have downgraded the near-term housing outlook based on the lingering weakness in the demand for homes, the expectation that job creation will remain soft this year, and the slow speed at which the mortgage industry is working through distressed mortgages,” Chen said. [DSNews]

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Commercial real estate prices nationwide dropped 3.1 percent in July from the previous month, according to the Moody’s/REAL Commercial Property Price Index. Prices were 43.2 percent down from their October 2007 peak. Nick Levidy, a managing director with Moody’s, said that the decline had been expected. “The recent [commercial market] performance, while perhaps somewhat discouraging, should not come as a complete surprise,” Levidy said. “We have noted for several months than markets are likely to remain choppy for some time.” The news wasn’t bad for all markets, however — Florida saw its first multi-family property price increase since the start of the recession, climbing 10.8 percent year-over-year in July. TRD

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