Home Insights Macro views What’s the Fed watching in CRE?
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Summary

The minutes of the Federal Reserve’s June 17-18 meeting were released on Wednesday, July 9, 2025. There were three references related to CRE that we believe support a continued recovery:

  1. The outstanding balance of CRE loans is growing, highlighting continued liquidity in the CRE debt markets
  2. CMBS delinquency rates are rising, but they are a lagging indicator, and delinquency rates for other lender types are lower
  3. CMBS spreads, which are a leading indicator, are tightening

The details

The outstanding balance of CRE loans continues to grow, albeit modestly

What did the Fed say? Financing through capital markets and nonbank lenders was readily accessible for public corporations and large and middle-market private corporations. Issuance of nonfinancial corporate bonds and leveraged loans, which slowed in April, was solid in May and early June, and private credit continued to be broadly available in April and May. Regarding bank credit, commercial and industrial loan growth picked up in April but moderated in May. Commercial real estate (CRE) loan growth was modest in April and May.

Our view: This is consistent with The Mortgage Bankers Association release of its 1Q25 Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Debt Outstanding Report on June 17, 2025. It showed that commercial and multifamily mortgage debt rose 1% to $4.81 trillion in 1Q25, led by REITs and securitizations, such as Commercial Mortgage-Backed Security (CMBS) as well as Commercial Real Estate Collateralized Loan Obligations (CRE CLOs), signaling strong debt fund activity. Banks—especially large ones—increased lending, while only minor lender types saw declines. Overall, the data points to continued liquidity in CRE debt markets, with attractive yields, conservative structures, and a robust pipeline of refinancing opportunities ahead.

See our complete analysis here: CRE Debt Outstanding is up... and an opportunity

CMBS delinquency rates continue to rise

What did the Fed say? Credit quality remained solid for large-to-midsize firms, municipalities, and most categories of mortgages, but delinquency rates continued to be somewhat elevated in other sectors. The credit performance of corporate bonds and leveraged loans remained stable in May. Delinquency rates on small business loans in March and April stayed above pre-pandemic levels. In the CRE market, CMBS delinquency rates remained elevated in May. Regarding household credit quality, the rate of serious delinquencies on Federal Housing Administration mortgages remained above pre-pandemic levels in April. By contrast, delinquency rates on most other mortgage loan types continued to stay near historical lows.

Our view: The +30-day delinquency rate for all private label CMBS loans was relatively stable in June ‘25 at 6.36%, but it has risen +164bp year-over-year. Office, not surprisingly, has the highest delinquency rate at 10.2% (+271bp YoY). That said, delinquency rates for other lender types are much lower as of 1Q25, with +60-day delinquency rates for life insurance companies at +0.47%, the +90-day delinquency rate for banks & thrifts at +1.28% and the +60-day delinquency rate for Fannie Mae at +0.63% vs +0.46% for Freddie Mac. Importantly, CMBS delinquency rates are a lagging indicator as they peaked two years after CRE prices troughed after the Great Financial Crisis (GFC). We expect the CMBS delinquency rate to continue to rise as it remains well below the post-GFC peaks.

CMBS 2.0 private label delinquency rates

+30 days, January 2023-June 2025

CMBS private label delinquency rates for 30 or more days in graph form

Source: BofA Global Research, Intex, Principal Asset Management. Data as of June 30, 2025.

CMBS yields are stable to tightening

What did the Fed say? In domestic credit markets, borrowing costs for businesses, households, and municipalities mostly edged down but remained elevated. Yields on both corporate bonds and leveraged loans declined modestly. Interest rates on small business loans decreased in May. Yields on higher-rated tranches of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) were little changed or increased slightly, whereas yields on lower-rated CMBS tranches declined, notably so for non-agency securities. Rates on 30-year fixed-rate conforming residential mortgages were little changed and remained elevated. Interest rates on credit card offers ticked up in March and April, while rates on new auto loans were little changed in May.

Our view: Spreads for 10-year AAA-rated fixed rate bonds currently stand at 85bp as of July 9, 2025, more than -20bp tighter than their recent April ’25 peak and -100bp tighter than their post-COVID wides. At the same time, fixed rate BBB- rated bonds are currently trading at +500bp as of June 9, 2025, which is -125bp tighter than their recent wides and almost -500bp tighter than their post-COVID wides. We believe that the tightening in credit spreads is a better proxy for the health of the credit markets than CMBS delinquency rates.

CMBS 2.0 10yr AAA spreads and BBB-spreads (J +)

Basis points, January 2023-June 2025

CMBS 10yr AAA spreads and BBB spreads in basis points from January 2023 through June 2025 in graph form

Source: BofA Global Research, Principal Asset Management. Data are as of June 30, 2025.

Bottom line

The Fed is obviously keeping an eye on the commercial real estate market. Its minutes reveal, however, that, unlike many recent CRE headlines, the overall market is stabilizing, with growing transaction and refinancing activity, and delinquencies, while elevated, are not necessarily representative of the broader asset class.

  • CRE debt markets remain liquid: Despite modest growth, the outstanding balance of CRE loans is rising, with capital still accessible, especially via CMBS, CRE CLOs, and REITs. This suggests ongoing refinancing and transaction activity.
  • CMBS delinquencies are rising, but context matters: CMBS delinquency rates are elevated and will likely continue to climb, especially in office, but these are lagging indicators and not representative of broader CRE lending, where delinquencies are much lower (banks, life insurers, agencies).
  • CMBS credit spreads are tightening: Despite elevated delinquencies, CMBS credit spreads—especially for AAA and BBB- tranches—have tightened since April 2025, signaling improved investor sentiment and stabilizing market conditions.
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