The delinquency rate for U.S. commercial real estate (CRE) loans backing CMBS fell 36 basis points in August to 9.52%.
This marks the second largest drop since the beginning of the credit crisis in 2008 and the third time the rate has dropped in the past four months, according to Trepp.
This news should bode well for the CMBS, which has suffered a number of hits this summer from lenders pulling back, a failed deal closing, and concerns over the deterioration of European banks and the U.S. economy.
"The drop in CMBS delinquencies in August appears to be the first piece of good news for the market in a while," Trepp analysts explained.
The good reading, they said, comes from a shift in the way some special servicers have been reporting data.
In July, special servicers started to flag many "dual-tracked loans," those in which the special servicer was pursing both a modification and a foreclosure strategy, as having a workout code of "in foreclosure." This caused the rate to spike sharply for that month.
In August, the special servicer walked backed many of these re-classifications, putting some downward pressure on the rate.
According to Trepp, the percentage of loans seriously delinquent (60+ days in foreclosure, REO, or non-performing balloons) is now 8.79%. By that measure, the rate was down 35 basis points. Overall U.S. delinquency rate falls to 9.52%, a decrease of 36 basis points.
"If defeased loans were taken out of the equation, the overall delinquency rate would be 9.98%, down 40 basis points from July 2011," Trepp analysts said.
