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Commercial Real Estate Could Be Next Economic Threat

商业不动产或成下个经济威胁

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

The American housing collapse was a major cause of the recession. The housing market is showing new life after three years of falling prices and too much supply. But now there are worries that banks could face big losses next on business properties.  For example, one effect of a weak economy is less demand for office space. As a result, property owners earn less and charge less in rent. This puts pressure especially on owners who borrowed a lot money.

Easy credit helped fuel an explosion of development.  The market hit a high point in two thousand seven. Now, late payments are growing. Almost three percent of commercial mortgages were reported at least ninety days late between April and June. That was double a year earlier. One major lender lost more than a billion and a half dollars in the second quarter. Capmark Financial Group said it might seek bankruptcy protection from its creditors. Medium and small banks also face a growing risk. Banks hold one and a half of the three and a half trillion dollars in debt that supports the commercial real estate market. Housing debt is much higher. Still, around two trillion dollars in commercial mortgages are expected to come due for payment within the next five years.

Commercial properties face two serious problems. One is falling prices -- down by one-fourth since two thousand seven. The other is refinancing. Most commercial real estate loans have terms of ten years or less. They often end with a large payment, a balloon payment, which owners usually refinance. But lower property values and tighter lending requirements mean a harder time getting new loans. One way to make capital available for new loans is to sell mortgage-backed securities. But since last year there has been little activity in the seven hundred fifty billion dollar market for commercial mortgage securities. The Federal Reserve recently extended into next year a loan program designed to get investors to buy more securities like these.  The United States is not alone. Commercial rents in Moscow, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mumbai have fallen thirty percent or more.  American housing sales, though, have improved in recent months, helped by lower prices and a tax credit for first-time buyers. The S&P/Case-Shiller national index of home prices rose in April, May and June. That was the first three-month increase in three years.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

一、全文翻译

这里是VOA特别英语经济报道。

美国房产市场崩溃是导致经济衰退的主要原因。经过三年的价格下跌和供大于求之后，房产市场出现的新的生机。但是，现在担心银行在商业资产方面可能面临巨大亏损。例如，经济衰弱的其中一个影响是对办公区域的需求减少。结果，资产所有者赚的更少，租金更低。对于那些贷款来购买资产的业主来说，压力更大。

信贷便捷促进经济快速发展。资产市场在2007年达到最高点。现在，逾期付款的态势有所增长。据报告，四月份至六月份之间，3%的商业抵押贷款逾期支付，是一年前的两倍。一个主要贷款提供者第二季度亏损超过15亿美元。美国嘉迈金融集团(Capmark Financial Group Inc.)称其可能向债权人寻求破产保护。中小银行面临的风险也逐渐增加。支持商业不动产的债务共有3.5兆美元，而银行就持有1.5兆，房产债务更高出很多。然而，预计在未来的5年，仍有2兆美元的商业抵押贷款应该支付。

商业资产面临两个严重问题。一个是价格下跌——自2007年以来，房价下跌了四分之一。另外一个是再融资。大所属商业不动产贷款的期限是十年或更少时间，这通常导致支付款项巨大，这迫使业主进行再融资。但是资产价值下降，信贷紧缩意味着获得新的贷款更加困难。能够获得新的贷款的一个方法是出售抵押有价证券。但是自去年开始，价值7500亿美元的商业抵押证券已经没有任何活力。最近，美联储将一个贷款项目延期到明年，该项目是为了鼓励投资者购买更多这种类型的证券。并不是只有美国出现这种情况。莫斯科，香港，新加坡和孟买的商业租金降低了30%甚至更多。然而，最近几个月，由于价格降低以及对初次购房者的税收减免政策，美国的房产销量有所上涨。S&P/Case-Shiller房价指数在四五六月份有所上涨。这是三年来首个出现增长的季度。

二、词汇学习

1.charge                                                 vt. 控诉,加罪于,使充满,收费

例句：How much do they charge for a foot massage? 
            他们做一次足底按摩收多少钱？

           I hope Will to be in charge of this project this time.
           我希望这次威尔能主管这个项目。

2.fuel                                                   vt. 加燃料,供以燃料

在文中是动词，表示促进，增加

3.refinance                                         vt. 再为…筹钱,再供…资金

4.available                                         adj. 可用的;通用的;可获得;有效的;可利用的

例句：Financing your studies may seem like a tall in order, but there is plenty of help available.
            支付你的学费可能看起来有点儿困难，不过会有很多人慷慨解囊的。