Banks Under-reserving for Commercial Real Estate Losses

There has been a peculiar disconnect between the “the crisis is over, on with the recovery” drumbeat of news, and the sobering reality that a good deal of credit bubble overhang still remains to be dealt with.

One of the biggest areas is commercial real estate. Various experts, including Apollo Management’s Leon Black warned of $2 trillion in losses in the offing in the commercial real estate arena. Yet those losses seem not to have hit bank balance sheets and earnings.