A bankruptcy by Lehman Brothers (LEH.N) may prompt the sale of its $32.6 billion of commercial real estate investments, and that just may be the jolt the U.S. property market needs to get sales started again, some real estate executives said.
But the elusive bottom that buyers and sellers have been waiting for could be short-lived and be followed by an even greater fall in prices until new lenders step in to fill the void left by the retreat of large banks from the market.
“There”s a whole group of people looking to be vultures to pick Lehman”s bones,” said Jay Rollins, president of Denver-based JCR Capital, a boutique commercial real estate capital provider.
“The other half of the story is what”s left of the financial infrastructure that”s going to be in place to do transactions,” he said.
Lehman Brothers was teetering on the verge of bankruptcy early on Monday after Britain”s Barclays Plc (BARC.L) withdrew from talks to take over part of Lehman.
As of August 31, Lehman held $32.6 billion in commercial real estate loans and equity. Most experts expect that under U.S. bankruptcy procedures, the investments will be sold slowly and not unloaded onto the market in one fell swoop.
