Commercial Real Estate: The Shoe Dropped In California

More proof that the commercial real estate crash is coming: hotel foreclosures in California have more than tripled in the first nine months of this year, according to Bloomberg.

Foreclosures in Dana Point climbed to 47 in January through September from 15 a year earlier, and properties in default more than quadrupled to 259.

Loans secured by more than 1,500 hotels with a total outstanding balance of $24.5 billion are in danger of default.

And, as with the housing market, it was really the late stages of the housing bubble that did so much of the damage: 70% of its troubled hotel loans originated between 2005 and 2007. Sadly, offering free tats, tequila and BMWs for stays probably won't help.