Commercial real estate performance continues to decline, pushing commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) delinquencies higher in July. Fitch Ratings‘ list of commercial real estate “loans of concern” swelled by 7% from June to July. The ratings agency added 432 mortgages totaling $5.2bn, bringing the list to 5,993 loans totaling $80.7bn — or 17% of its US CMBS portfolio. Recent vintage loans from 2006 and 2007 account for more than 12% of all commercial loans of concern. Loans tied to consumer spending — like hotels — are sensitive to cash flow declines and usually exhibit signs of deteriorating performance first, according to senior director Adam Fox. One such loan of concern, the $227.9m Resorts International Casino Portfolio loan, transferred to special servicing in July after the loan defaulted when cash flows generated by the property declined significantly. Fitch noted exposure to the Stuy Town/Cooper Village property, as well as to loans sponsored by Babcock & Brown continued to fuel concern in the multifamily CMBS space. CMBS analytics provider Trepp recently cited such exposure in the multifamily sector as a driver in the overall CMBS delinquency rate of 4.03% by the end of August. Write to Diana Golobay.