CHICAGO-With pension funds and life insurance companies flooding major US markets with debt capital, CMBS lenders have turned their attention to secondary markets. The shift is detailed in Jones Lang LaSalle’s 2011 Spring 2011 Investor Outlook report.

According to JLL’s report, the US debt markets have experienced significant easing with the return of the CMBS market. Through April 2011, $9 billion in CMBS was issued, far exceeding the nominal amount issued in the same period a year earlier, and already more than three-quarters of the total issuance recorded for the whole of 2010. Current estimates for 2011 issuance range between $40 billion to $60 billion.

“There’s very strong interest in secondary and tertiary markets from CMBS lenders,” says Paul House, a managing director with JLL’s real estate investment banking team in Houston. “If there’s cash flow, they’re not as concerned about where the asset is located. So, secondary markets and tertiary markets are a good fit for CMBS lenders.”