The delinquency rates for commercial and multifamily mortgages continued to fall in the third quarter, new data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) claims. 

The trade group released its commercial/multifamily delinquency report Tuesday, noting that loans 60 or more days past due held by life company portfolios fell 0.02 percentage points to 0.06%.

Meanwhile, the serious delinquency rate for multifamily loans held or insured by Freddie Mac fell 0.04 percentage points to a rate of 0.05%.

When it comes to loans held or insured by Fannie Mae, the 60-plus day delinquency rate for multifamily loans in this category declined to 0.18%.

On the other hand, the 90-plus day delinquency rate for loans held by FDIC-insured banks and thrifts decreased 0.23 percentage points to 1.95%.

"Commercial and multifamily mortgage performance continues to reflect overall economic gains," said Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s vice president of commercial real estate research. "Improvements in underlying property performance and property values, and the continued availability of commercial and multifamily mortgage financing, led to declines in delinquency rates for every major investor group."

The third-quarter delinquency rate for multifamily loans held by Freddie Mac is 6.76 percentage points lower than the series high of 6.81% reported in the fourth quarter of 1992.

On the other hand, the delinquency rate for multifamily loans held by Fannie came in 3.44 percentage points below the series high of 3.62% reached in the fourth quarter of 1991.