Commercial real estate at risk of default has quadrupled, according to a recent article in the Financial Times. It was only a matter of time before the consumer spending implosion destroyed the unsustainable increase in storefronts across America.

The volume of commercial mortgages at risk of default has quintupled since the beginning of 2008 as a deteriorating economy has made it increasingly difficult for shops and businesses to keep up with their payments.

Special servicers, companies that collect payments from borrowers in distress on behalf of mortgage bond investors, reported $23.7bn of mortgages under their care at the end of the first quarter, according to Fitch Ratings.

That was five times higher than the $4.6bn of mortgages needing special servicing at the end of 2007. Servicers experienced an almost 50 per cent increase in the volume of distressed commercial mortgages in the first quarter alone.

Mortgages for multi-family residential properties suffering from the housing