I hope everyone had an enjoyable and safe start to 2025. When my two boys were younger, they loved going to various theme parks to try out as many different roller coasters as possible. I’ve become a bit nostalgic over the past week watching the bond and equity markets, feeling like I was back on one of those harrowing rides with my kids. The second week of April is one we will not forget for quite a while.
 
Before recapping this past week, let’s look at what happened with Treasuries during the first quarter and before the volatility of early April. The 10-year Treasury yield started the year at 4.57%, increased to 4.79% by mid-January, and then began a steady decline to end the quarter at 4.23%. The dominant topic in the capital markets during the first quarter was clearly tariffs. An inversion of the short end of the yield curve began in early March, perhaps signaling recession concerns in the near term.
 
The real fun started on April 2nd when the 10-year Treasury yield was around 4.20%. Over the next 2 days the bottom fell out for equities and Treasury yields plummeted with the 10-year yield dropping as low as 3.86% and ending the week at 4.01%. In reaction to this drop, interest rate spreads widened to varying degrees depending on the lender. Volatility was the name of the game on Wall Street this past week, with the DJIA mimicking a very steep roller coaster. However, Treasury yields just continued to rise, with the 10-year increasing from around 4.0% at the start of the week to 4.50% to end the week, one of the steepest weekly increases in recent history. What was behind the rise in yields? Was it China and Japan selling off Treasuries? Was it a flight to foreign safe havens? Was it hedge fund traders liquidating to cover their positions? Was it a little of everything? Perhaps the upcoming weeks will provide more clarity, but I encourage you to check with your Medalist Capital specialist to get the most current update on capital markets and lender reactions. 
 
Medalist Capital had a highly productive first quarter, closing 27 transactions for a total of approximately $319 million, an increase of 50% and 28%, respectively, over the same quarter last year. Reflecting our experience in a wide variety of property types, our first quarter transaction volume was diverse with retail leading the way at 48%, followed by industrial / flex (18%), office / medical office (11%), multifamily (7.5%), hotel (7.5%), land (4%) and mixed-use (4%). Loans were originated with life insurance companies, banks, CMBS and specialty finance lenders. Our transaction sizes ranged from $775k to $59 million with an average of $11.81 million. Finally, despite the turbulence in the market, our pipeline is strong heading into the second quarter with 26 deals totaling $281 million.
 
On the personnel front we are excited to welcome three summer interns joining us in May. Howard Brooks will be in our Charleston office, Scott York in Raleigh, and John Hauser in Charlotte. These are three highly qualified candidates, and we look forward to their contributions over the summer. 
 
We continue to appreciate and value the trust you put in Medalist Capital. Our debt, investment sales and equity specialists are ready to be a part of your team and assist with any commercial real estate needs you have for the remainder of 2025.

Scott Mauzy

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