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How commercial real estate has been affected by the pandemic. : The Indicator from Planet Money There's a fear radiating out from the commercial real estate market — a fear that some economists say could become a drag on any economic recovery. In fact, there's evidence it already has.
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Fear And Loaning

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Fear And Loaning

The Indicator from Planet Money

Fear And Loaning

Fear And Loaning

Listen · 9:56
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/953276269/953666381" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Two women walk into a store next to a vacant retail spot for lease on Newbury Street. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
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Jesse Costa/WBUR
Two women walk into a store next to a vacant retail spot for lease on Newbury Street. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Jesse Costa/WBUR

Every few months, the Federal Reserve Bank puts out a report called The Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS).

Essentially, it's a banker gut-check that asks how easy or hard bankers are making it for customers to get loans — for everything from homes and cars to credit cards and construction.

But there's one category of lending that has some economists particularly worried: commercial real estate.

At one point this past summer, about 80 percent of loan officers surveyed said they've tightened the credit spigot on these types of deals.

We explore why that's a problem for landlords, businesses and the entire economy.

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