RCA in the commercial property press:

Dead Weight - Global Distressed Assets

Property Week reports: The total amount of assets known to be in distress worldwide is now $153bn (£105bn), as reports of defaulted mortgages and failed commercial property assets reached $55bn (£37.6bn) during the first quarter of 2009.

The Americas is the region with the largest amount of distress, according to data from independent research firm Real Capital Analytics. Troubled assets there grew by $26bn (£18bn) to a total of $75bn (£51bn) during the first quarter of 2009. But a rise in troubled assets was also recorded in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where the amount of distressed property soared by 53% to $51bn (£35bn), and in the Asia-Pacific region, which experienced a 68% rise to $27bn (£18.5bn). From the $170bn (£116bn) of total distress that Real Capital Analytics has recorded since the beginning of 2008, only $17.9bn (£12.2bn) has been resolved, either through sales or other methods of recapitalisation.

"At this early point in the cycle, far more assets are falling into trouble than are being resolved," said Real Capital Analytics, in a report. "The transaction market is stalled and bidders for distressed assets are often demanding shocking amounts."