10 March 2010

Missed Payment Rate Jumps on Dallas-Area Commercial Property

The Dallas News


An increasing number of Dallas-area commercial properties are falling behind in their mortgage payments.

At the end of last month, the missed payment rate for Dallas-area buildings with securitized mortgages was more than 33 percent higher than the national average, according to a new report by Trepp LLC.

The New York-based analyst tracks thousands of commercial properties across the country that are financed with securitized mortgages.

More than 9 percent of Dallas-area commercial properties with securitized debt were behind in payments at the end of February, according to Trepp's report, released Wednesday. The national delinquency rate was 6.72 percent.

The Dallas-area late loan rate has increased almost 200 percent from a year ago, said Paul Mancuso, vice president of Trepp, which provides real estate data and analytics.

"Although elevated, the [Dallas] region is well below the double-digit delinquency rates experienced in troubled states such as Arizona, Nevada, Florida and Michigan," he said.

Almost 160 Dallas-area commercial and investment properties are on the list of troubled real estate deals. The debt on these properties adds up to about $1.28 billion.

Among the largest real estate deals cited in the report is the Four Seasons Resort and Club in Las Colinas, which has been posted for foreclosure.

"Excluding the delinquent $175 million loan to the Four Seasons Resort and Club, the current delinquency rate would decrease significantly to 7.9 percent," Mancuso said.

Downtown Dallas' Harwood Center office tower and the Village on the Parkway shopping center in Addison are also on Trepp's watch list.

The Dallas sector with the highest mortgage delinquency rate is hotels. Almost 17 percent of securitized hotel loans here were behind in payments at the end of February. The office building delinquency rate was just over 12 percent.

Loan data from properties with securitized debt provides an important window into the health of the commercial real estate sector.

Trepp said the nationwide increase in late loans in February was 23 basis points,. It was the smallest increase in six months, but late loans are still at an all-time high.

In 2009, the number of commercial properties posted for foreclosure in the Dallas-Fort Worth area jumped almost 27 percent.

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