U.S. CMBS delinquencies rose by four basis points (bps) to 0.39% during May, with half of the increase in the LDI due to one large non-performing matured health care loan. The index would have risen by only two basis points to 0.37% if not for this loan.

Most sectors ended last month with mildly higher delinquencies, with health care recording the largest increase. Multifamily also increased in May: 'Multifamily continues to encompass a significant percentage of overall delinquencies with an additional $47.9 million in newly delinquent loans,' said Managing Director and CMBS group head Susan Merrick.

The newly delinquent health care portfolio resulted in this sector's lead in the index by property type. When these delinquent loans are compared to total health care in the Fitch universe, they represent 4.62% of health care issuance. The multifamily sector followed with delinquencies at 1.74% of the multifamily universe. The retail and office sectors indices were as follows: retail ended the month with a $26.4 million decrease in delinquencies resulting in an index of 0.17% and office delinquencies increased $20.1 million, resulting in an index of 0.14%.

Texas continues to lead delinquencies by location, with 23.2% of the delinquent loans in this state. When compared to the total amount of loans in the Fitch universe from Texas, this represents a delinquent index of 1.56%. The state that represents the next highest by delinquent totals is Florida, with 9.54% of the total, and when compared to Florida issuance, this represents an index of 0.65%.

The seasoned delinquency index, which omits transactions with less than one year of seasoning, rose by five basis points in May 2008, ending the month at 0.46%. Five transactions totaling $5.3 billion became newly seasoned - none of them had any delinquent loans.

There are 380 delinquent loans totaling $2.2 billion out of approximately 40,000 loans totaling $554 billion in Fitch's rated portfolio.