Real Capital Analytics' White

Distressed assets” is the buzz phrase in the industry right now. Every day we learn about more properties going into foreclosure, and firms and funds being created to acquire those assets. But the industry still isn’t seeing much in the way of transactions. New York City-based Real Capital Analytics is one firm tracking distressed assets and loans. For his part, Robert White, the firm’s founder and president, doesn’t see a change in the market taking place until someone jumps in and buys a “big, diverse portfolio.” White recently spoke with GlobeSt.com about distressed assets and the transaction market.

GlobeSt.com: What is it going to take for transactions to start happening again?

White: Truly distressed sellers. There are a lot of mortgages in troubled situations out there, and that’s growing every day. Not all that much of it has been at the point where the lenders are in control and can sell it at whatever price the market would bear. There is also a lot of internal strife between the lending syndicates of whether they should dump an asset now or hold on to it. The senior holders definitely are in favor of a quick liquidation, and everybody below that is fervently against it. We haven’t seen a lot of that. We’ve seen some note sales, and that is increasing in activity, but it hasn’t exploded the way it probably will at some point when people are probably a little more comfortable in buying.