The default rate of U.S. commercial real estate bank loans reached its highest level in 15 years and is not expected to peak until 2011, according to a report by Real Estate Econometrics.

During the first quarter 2009, the national default rate for commercial real estate mortgages held by regulated depository institutions rose to 2.25 percent from 1.62 in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the real estate research firm's report released on Tuesday.

The 0.63 percentage-point jump is the largest quarterly increase since at least 1992, and pushed the default rate to its highest level since 1994, the New York-based firm said.

The default rate does not include loans on apartments, which increased by 0.68 percentage points between the fourth quarter and first quarter 2009 to 2.45 percent.

The analysis of the data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) includes non-farm, non-residential property where the primary source of repayment during the term of the mortgage is derived from the property's rental income. The multifamily results include buildings with five or more units.

Depository institutions hold about half the $3.2 trillion in debt on U.S. commercial property, with the commercial mortgage-backed securities market accounting for about 25 percent of that. Insurance companies and government-sponsored entities such as Fannie Mae account for the remainder.

Real Estate Econometrics attributed the default surge to rising vacancy rates, falling rents and increasing operating expenses all of which made it more difficult for borrowers to meet principal and interest obligations. Additionally, those borrowers who had been current were not able to refinance or sell their properties in order to meet balloon payments required by maturing mortgages because of the tight lending markets.

Mortgages originated in 2006 and 2007 experienced the most significant cash shortfalls because of the large number of mortgages that were based on overly aggressive rent and occupancy projections.

Increasingly, a challenge in refinancing these mortgages is that some lenders are seeking to diversify away from commercial real estate, while others are lending only with existing relationships, the report said.

Real Estate Econometrics also revised its default projections higher. It sees the default rate rising to 4.1 percent by the end of the year, up from its prior forecast of 3.9 percent. By the end of 2010, the default rate is expected to rise to 5.2 percent, up from the prior outlook of 4.7 percent.

It expects the default rate for U.S. commercial loans held by banks to peak at 5.3 percent in 2011, up from its forecast of 4.8 percent.

The more sour forecast was due chiefly to a more pessimistic outlook for the overall economy, a projected rise in long-term interest rates and a slower-than-expected policy response to commercial real estate credit constraints.

It sees the national default rate for multifamily mortgages is projected to rise to 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 and peak at 5.5 percent next year.

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