In an article by Matt Hudgines “More CMBS Borrowers Pay off Balloon Mortgages on Time,” posted on August 18, 2010, the following appeared
“Some 49.9% of the securitized loans that matured in July successfully met their balloon payments, according to New York-based Trepp LLC, which closely tracks the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) market. That’s up more than 11 percentage points from 38.7% the previous month and is the highest level since the end of 2008.”
Later in the article, the following appeared:
“Until the fourth quarter of 2008, when financial markets experienced a meltdown following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the monthly average for the number of on-time, paid balloon payments was more than 70%, according to Trepp. Since the beginning of 2009, there hasn’t been a month when even half of the borrowers with CMBS loans reaching maturity were able to make their balloon payments. The average percentage for the past 12 months has been 32.2%.”
(See: nreionline.com/finance/news/cmbs_borrowers_pay_balloon_mortgages_0818/#)
Explain the relevance of this information to investors in CMBS.