OREANDA-NEWS. U.S. CMBS delinquencies were nearly flat last month following a record drop in January, according to the latest results from Fitch Ratings.

Loan delinquencies declined by two basis points (bps) in February to 2.91% from 2.93% a month earlier. Despite the ongoing decline, Fitch is still keeping close watch over the pace of maturity defaults and special servicing transfers prior to upcoming maturities. Should some of these loans become delinquent, it could reverse the declining trend.

The largest new delinquency last month, which caused a spike in office late-pays, was the $150 million James Center (GMACC 2006-C1 and GECMC 2006-C1). Meanwhile, the largest resolution was the $190.8 million Gulf Coast Town Center Phase I & II (CSMC 2007-C5), a 991,027 sf retail property in Fort Myers, FL, which was liquidated with a 23% loss severity. In total, resolutions of $980 million outpaced new delinquencies of $751 million.

Current and previous delinquency rates by property type are as follows:

--Retail: 4.67% (from 4.96% in January);
--Office: 4.03% (from 3.82%);
--Hotel: 3.11% (from 3.41%);
--Industrial: 3.48% (from 3.38%);
--Mixed Use: 3.25% (from 2.57%);
--Multifamily: 0.84% (from 0.82%);
--Other: 0.73% (from 0.90%).