What's Really Under Water

"Seeking to get a handle on how the damage and ongoing devastation from Hurricane Katrina has and will continue to affect the real estate finance market, data providers such as Trepp and GMAC's Realpoint have released summaries of CMBS deals in the storm region. In a survey released late last week, Trepp found 1,083 loans in 345 bond issuances totaling $4.4 billion on properties in the FEMA-affected areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

...Industrial property, he predicts, will 'bounce back quickest,' because of the importance of the region's port to the national energy infrastructure. The Port of New Orleans, noted Realpoint's Grenda, is already able to operate on a lted basis. 'There will be a lot of resources devoted to getting that operation going again,' he said."