The CMBS market appears to be thawing after slumping earlier this year on the heels of several interest rate hikes — but the new conduit deals pricing in August may portend more conservative underwriting for the foreseeable future.

An analysis by Moody's Analytics CRE notes that while "third quarter deals so far are a small universe," with two deals totaling $1.84 billion),"there are some subtle shifts to note within this small universe." To start, says Moody's David Salz, the percentage of multifamily loans decreased from 12% to 6%, while the percentage of hospitality loans increased from 1% to 9%.

"The decline in the multifamily percentage may be explained by more of the multifamily loans being securitized as part of CRE CLOs than in CMBS. But the hospitality increase was unexpected given the risks associated with the hospitality sector, implying that the underwriting metrics may have been much stronger," Salz says, noting that hospitality and retail loans had the strongest movement towards more conservative underwriting standards.