Fitch: CMBS Delinquencies Decline

Delinquencies on commercial mortgage-backed securities went down 0.05% in November, according to a Fitch Ratings loan delinquency index that registered a reading of 0.88% for the month."While cured loans, liquidated loans, and the addition of new deals contributed 18 basis points to the overall decline in CMBS loan delinquencies this month, offsetting the decline is the addition of newly delinquent loans totaling 13 bps, almost half attributable to Katrina," said Patty Bach, a Fitch senior director. "Therefore, the net impact on the index attributable to changes in delinquent loan status (cured and new delinquent loans) is a net increase of 2 bps." A total of $180.5 million in Katrina-affected loans were 60 days delinquent in November, 70.2% of which were on multifamily properties. Retail properties represented 16.6% of the Katrina-affected delinquencies, followed by lodging at 7.4%, the rating agency said. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.