CMBS delinquency rate climbs to 9.22% in April: Moody’s

The rate of delinquent loans in commercial mortgage-backed securities rose again in April and remains higher than 9%, as it has for all of 2011, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Analysts said the agency’s delinquency tracker climbed another 6 basis points last month to 9.22% from 9.16% in March. The balance on delinquent loans fell slightly for the second month in a row, inching down to $56.4 billion from $56.5 billion a month earlier. The number of total delinquent loans in April fell to 4,047 from 4,097 in March. Moody’s said the rising rate and declining balance of delinquent loans is a result of fewer new mortgage defaults and slowing in the number of loans leaving delinquency. (Click on chart to expand.) Analysts said foreclosures and REOs now account for 53% of all delinquent loans. The balance of 60- and 90-day delinquent mortgages is now shrinking, but the foreclosure and REO balance continues to grow as these loans advance through the pipeline, according to Moody’s. Analysts said Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, Ala., missed a mortgage payment last month and the $305 million loan is the 10th largest delinquent loan in the CMBS space. The Wells Fargo Tower in downtown Los Angeles is largest new, nondelinquent specially serviced loan at $550 million, according to Moody’s. The delinquency rate in Nevada fell last month to about 28.2% from more than 30% the prior month, although the rate there is still far and away the highest in the country. Alabama is second at 16%, analysts said. Moody’s also said 2007 remains the worst performing vintage among those with nine or fewer years of seasoning with a delinquency rate of nearly 12%. Investment research firm Realpoint said the delinquent unpaid balance for CMBS in April rose to $63.34 billion from $62.97 billion a month earlier. Realpoint said the delinquency rate on the loans in the securities rose to nearly 8.4% last month, up from 8.3% in March. Still, analysts at the Royal Bank of Scotland see value in commercial real estate credit-default obligations and recommend adding manager-specific CDOs secured by whole loans and early vintage CDOs consisting of fixed-rate CMBS and REIT debt. “We believe some CRE CDO bonds provide attractive relative value as they are trading at levels lower than their credit risk implies given their ‘taboo’ name,” RBS said. The RBS analysts said these super senior floating-rate bonds are trading in the high $70s to mid $80s and “offer attractive relative value compared to CMBS large loan floating bonds.” Write to Jason Philyaw.

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