After two months of moderated growth in delinquent loans backing commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), the delinquency rate in August increased 21 basis points to 8.92%, according to the analytics firm Trepp. It’s an increase from the 8.71% measured in July and another new record. The August delinquency rate is more than double the 4.03% rate a year ago. Since the beginning of 2010, the delinquency rate has increased more than 200 bps. “The August numbers may give ammunition to those who argue that the commercial real estate crisis is far from over,” according to the Trepp report. While the amount of modifications on CMBS loans in 2010 has already passed the combined total of the last two years, the amount of serious-delinquent loans increased 20 bps in August to 8.15%. That includes loans in 60-plus day delinquency, foreclosure, REO or other nonperforming pools. A year ago, the rate of loans in serious delinquency stood at 3.08%. “The number of loan modifications remains elevated,” according to the report. “This will continue to put some downward pressure on the delinquency number as troubled loans get resolved and move from the delinquency category. REO loans that are liquidated will have a similar impact.” Retail property loans saw a decrease in 30-plus day delinquencies to 6.76% in August from 6.9% in July. But hotel delinquencies still jumped 51 bps in August to an 18.92% rate, the highest among all property types, and nearly back to that sector’s high of 19.01% measured in June. Write to Jon Prior.