According to an article in the Dallas Morning News, the number of Dallas-Fort Worth commercial properties facing foreclosure rose by 14 percent during the first four months of 2009 compared with the same period of time last year.
The article said:
So far in 2009, 658 commercial properties have been posted for foreclosure in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Addison-based Foreclosure Listing Service said Thursday. Even though the number is low, it was the highest for the D-FW area in 17 years. The 658 filings represent only about 3 percent of the total real estate foreclosure filings. The rest are for homes.
Right now what we’re seeing is a surge is foreclosures for commercial buildings such as hotels, offices, warehouses and shopping centers which is a side effect of massive consumer spending cutbacks. The foreclosure rate for these types of commercial property is four times higher than the rate was just a year ago.
Many commercial property owners simply cannot find financing, are facing high vacancy rates and are troubled by other financial ills. Hopefully we won’t see the rate of commercial real estate foreclosures rise to the current foreclosure rate plaguing the housing sector. If we do, it could spell more, possibly insurmountable troubles for the banking sector and by extension the ordinary American worker.