Federal regulators are warning that by the end of 2010, half of all commercial real estate mortgages will be underwater. Their biggest concern is that most of these souring loans are concentrated in mid-sized banks, making them especially vulnerable to failure. The Treasury secretary, though, says commercial real estate is a problem that can be managed, and news from the field supports his assumption, as lenders appear to be moving more aggressively to modify commercial mortgages and avert another default tsunami.
Home prices in the U.S. rose again in January, marking the eighth consecutive month of increases, Standard & Poor's closely-watched index showed Tuesday. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the 10-city and 20-city composites edged up 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent. The company also pointed out that its year-over-year readings were the closest they've been to an increase in nearly three years, with the 10-city price index unchanged versus where it was a year ago, and the 20-city composite down only 0.7 percent.
The delinquent unpaid balance for commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS) increased to $47.82 billion in February, according to investment rating agency Realpoint, LLC. The overall delinquent unpaid balance was up almost 300 percent from February 2009, when only $11.98 billion was reported. Last month's numbers represent a delinquency ratio of 6 percent, and Realpoint says it expects the growth trend to continue, potentially reaching 12 percent by year-end.
Florida has been aptly dubbed one of the nation's foreclosure hotspots, and its courts have a wall of foreclosure cases to back up that claim. The backlog has gotten so bad, that it's pushed the Florida State Courts Administration to ask legislators for $9.6 million to bring in additional case managers and judges to help clear the still-growing glut of case files. The state's court administrators estimate that there are currently 500,000 pending foreclosure cases. Local judges say "the numbers are just overwhelming."
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