OREANDA-NEWS. Underperforming loans being transferred to special servicing continue to drop as the rate of new issuance remains strong, according to Fitch Ratings in its latest U.S. CMBS weekly newsletter.

Through October, $4.3 billion (383 loans) has transferred into special servicing in Fitch rated transactions. This represents a decline from nearly $7 billion transferring in each of the last two years. Additionally, special servicers are continuing to liquidate specially serviced assets.

These are trends Fitch expects to continue into 2016 so long as commercial real estate liquidity remains strong and interest rates remain low. With the ratio of assets to asset manager likely to continue declining, this should free up special servicers to focus more time on surveillance, particularly for pending maturities in 2006-2007 vintages and any idiosyncratic issues that arise on 2.0 loans.