USA Today reports: The darkest cloud over the economic recovery — the troubled commercial real estate market — may be clearing a bit.Prices of commercial property are up slightly compared with last fall. Loan modifications have risen sharply the past six months. Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), a big funding source that was comatose for two years, has come to life recently.The developments won't alleviate the sector's biggest problem: the rising pace of defaults. But they should contain the damage and provide a lifeline to better-performing properties, analysts say.Developers put up too many commercial buildings earlier this decade and paid the price when the economy wilted as vacancies rose and rents fell. Default rates jumped to 3.8% from 1.6% in 2009 and will hit 5.1% this year, said global commercial property research firm Real Capital Analytics.Other good signs:Commercial real estate values have edged up 6% in recent months, Real Capital Analytics says. They fell 45% from 2007 to 2009.
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