The volume of securitized commercial real estate loans that defaulted in the second quarter retreated, though deterioration was noted with loans secured by office buildings.
The cumulative default rate on loans that are included in fixed-rate commercial mortgage-backed securities was 13.7 percent in the second quarter.
Three months earlier, the default rate was 13.6 percent.
The second-quarter data reflects 97 newly defaulted loans for $1.4 billion that are rated by Fitch Ratings.
Seventy-two of the newly defaulted loans were less than $15 million — a development that Fitch called “encouraging.”
The previous quarter saw 101 newly defaulted loans for $2 billion.
“The rate of increase was smaller than the 18 bp rise at the end 1Q’13 from year-end 2012,” the New York-based ratings agency said.
Office loans accounted for 47 of the new defaults — more than any other property type and rising from 42 in the previous period.
The dollar amount of office loans that defaulted in the second quarter was $647 million.
“The majority of the office defaults were in secondary markets, which continue to be under pressure,” the report stated.
