Multifamily Loan Delinquency Rising: Fitch

On February 9th, Fitch Ratings reported more delinquent commercial multifamily properties. "(M)ultifamily loans are still experiencing stress in some markets,' said Mary O'Rourke, Senior Director, Fitch Ratings. 'A large portion of the new defaults in the multifamily arena stemmed from small balance loans under $4 million with 26% being loans under $1 million and another 34% under $4 million".

The problems are concentrated in a basket of states. "(N)ew defaults, particularly among small balance loans, concentrated in secondary markets in Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas". The Fitch Loan Delinquency Index for January climbed to 1.57%.