Delinquencies on loans in commercial mortgage-backed securities rose by the smallest amount in 11 months in June, Fitch Inc. said Friday, although the rating agency expects the rate to accelerate again.
For more than a year the recession and financial crisis have pressured rents and occupancy levels, and thus property owners' capacity to pay their loans.
Some landlords have dipped into their pockets to cover debt service on properties producing lower-than-expected cash flow.
But Fitch Managing Director Mary MacNeill speculated that borrowers unable to access capital for the cost of attracting tenants and those unable to restructure loans may stop "subsidizing" interest payments to their lenders.
Meanwhile, investors seeking to refinance maturing loans or repay them by selling the underlying property have had trouble as property values have plunged.
Fitch said its CMBS delinquency index rose to 8.14% in June from 7.97% in May.
The hotel sector continued to have the highest delinquencies, although the rate was flat at 18.6%.
