Going Commercial.(commercial real estate lending)

Tired of the boom-and-bust cycle of residential lending? More than a few companies that have capitalized on their residential lending expertise to reap enormous profits in recent years are looking for ways to balance out their business equation with less interest rate sensitive loan products. Low rates fueled boom times for residential lending, but rising rates will take some of the steam off the industry - at least on the origination side of the business.

One option that has lured a number of firms that have historically focused on residential real estate is commercial real estate lending. Sure, commercial real estate is a more complicated asset class with greater price volatility than residential real estate, but prepayment lockouts and cycles of business demand mean that commercial loans prepay less quickly than their residential counterparts.

That means that commercial real estate lending remains a hot topic. And technology that ...