Moody’s: CMBS delinquencies dip lower to 9.29% in October

The delinquency rate of loans in commercial mortgage-backed securities fell slightly in October, with half of new defaulted loans in Texas, Georgia and California, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Moody’s said the rate of delinquent loans decreased to 9.29% from 9.36% in September. The rate dipped as low as 9.01% in August, but has stayed higher than 9% for all of 2011. New delinquencies totaled about $2.5 billion last month with six of the 10 largest new defaults by office or retail properties in Texas and Georgia. Two new CMBS deals worth $3.2 billion priced in October but were more than offset by the $6.3 billion of seasoned loans leaving the space during the month, pushing outstanding CMBS to $591.6 billion, according to Moody’s. The delinquency rates for the five commercial property types were mixed in October from the prior month and a year earlier. Loans for multifamily properties have the highest delinquency rate at 15.62% in October, up from 15.33% the prior month and 13.77% a year earlier. Hotel delinquencies decreased last month to 13.85% from 14.81% in September and 16.39% a year ago. Retail delinquencies inched lower to 7.1% from 7.11% in September; the rate for office properties also fell one basis point to 8.15% from 8.16%. Delinquencies on industrial loans declined to 11.29% from 11.39% the prior month, but the rate is nearly double the 6.23% of a year earlier. The balance on delinquent loans decreased by about $700 million in October to $55 billion from $55.67 billion a month earlier. The number of total delinquent loans rose slightly to 3,835 from 3,828 in August. Moody’s specially serviced loan tracker fell to 12.1% in October from 12.13% the prior month. Write to Jason Philyaw. Follow him on Twitter: @jrphilyaw.