The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is bringing $500 million of commercial mortgage-backed securities to market before the end of January, if not before the end of this year. Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported the FDIC was prepping the sale, citing people familiar with the deal, as the regulator begins the process of shedding real estate assets it acquired from failed banks. The FDIC, which isn’t commenting on the sale, used to sell distressed real estate assets through partnerships. But the regulator now moves to bundle the loans and offer them through CMBS just as the market is showing signs of life and yields reach the lowest rates of the year. Sources did confirm to HousingWire that the FDIC is planning to sell the CMBS soon. In late July, the FDIC sold $409 million of residential mortgage-backed securities from assets acquired from 16 failed banks. Last week, the National Credit Union Administration sold roughly $4.38 billion of residential mortgage-backed securities. Barclays Capital led the negotiated sale. The notes carried gilt-edged ratings due to full faith and credit pledge of the U.S. government. The sale furthers the NCUA plan to divest itself of about $50 billion of troubled assets it acquired upon taking a handful of credit unions into conservatorship. Write to Jason Philyaw.