Mortgage loans held by U.S. banks which are secured by apartment buildings (5 plus units) increased to a record 4.6% default number in the 1st quarter of 2010. This delinquent mortgage percentage number was almost twice the number just one year earlier. In the 4th quarter of 2009, the mortgage default number was 4.4%.

Typically, apartment buildings are considered the safest type of commercial property nationwide as compared with the other perceived riskier type commercial properties such as retail, office, industrial warehouse, and hotel properties.

As the global recession continues to worsen, consumer demand for apartment units, office, retail, industrial, and hotels have weakened over the past two (2) years. As a result, vacancy rates are up, and income is down significantly.

Some financial analysts predict that overall apartment vacancy percentage rates may peak at just over 8% later this year which may be the highest apartment vacancy percentage rate since 1980.