D-FW commercial foreclosures up 63%

Commercial property foreclosures in North Texas have climbed 63 percent so far this year, with land and apartment complexes among the hardest hit.

So far in 2010, 1,393 foreclosure postings were filed on commercial properties in Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton Counties. This compares to 857 for the same period last year, according to Addison-based Foreclosure Listing Service.

The number of postings for land jumped 73 percent to 311, and apartment postings jumped 44 percent to 191. Office building postings increased 21 percent to 116. Postings for miscellaneous commercial buildings -- which include restaurants, hotels, auto dealerships and funeral homes -- surged a whopping 139 percent, to 596.

On a more positive note, foreclosure postings for retail buildings fell 13 percent to 110, and postings for industrial buildings dropped 5 percent to 69.

Many of the miscellaneous buildings are owner-occupied or single-tenant users who have been hurt more than most by the recession, said George Roddy Sr., president of Foreclosure Listing Service.

"So many 'Mom-and-Pop' businesses have been forced to close during this struggle," he said. "Simply put, closures mean no rent collected, and no rental income leads to an inabiliity to pay debt service (the building's mortgage)."

Land speculators and developers also felt the sting of the recession early, triggering the wave of land foreclosures, Roddy said. As signs of the economic crisis surfaced, financing for development disappeared, leaving land developers and speculators unable to convert the land into income-producing property and unable to service the debt on the land, Roddy said.

"There is a limit to how long they can hold on," he said. "Many have passed that point."

Most of the apartments posted for foreclosure were older complexes, Roddy said.

Broken down by county, year-to-date foreclosure postings rose 108 percent in Tarrant County, 52 percent in Collin County, 44 percent in Denton County and 40 percent in Dallas County, when compared to the same period last year.