RCA in the commercial property press:

US commercial property values at lowest levels in 7 years

Property Wire reports: Commercial property values in the U.S. declined in October to the lowest level in more than seven years as unemployment reduced demand for apartments, offices and retail space.

The Moody's/REAL Commercial Property Price indices fell 1.5 % in October from September to the lowest since August 2002.

Prices were down 36% from a year earlier and are now 44% below the peak in October 2007, Moody's Investors Service said.

The gloomy news follows predictions from commercial property brokers, including Jones Lang LaSalle and Grubb & Ellis, that office vacancies may approach 20% next year as employers hold off hiring.

The delinquency rate for U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities rose to 4.47% as of the end of November, Moody's Investors Service said.

That's almost six times the rate of 0.75% a year ago.

And last week the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that delinquency rates continued to rise in the third quarter on properties held by all but one of the five major commercial real estate investor groups tracked by the MBA. Defaults were the highest among holders of bank, thrift and CMBS loans.

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Posted by: Matthew Stone

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