However, sheer dollar volume does not tell the whole story, and RCA says the biggest concentrations of distressed assets are in "the expected places," including Las Vegas and South Florida as well as tertiary markets around the US. "There is no question that because New York City metro has the most expensive properties, it was going to represent a significant percentage of distress in the US on a dollar value basis," Dan Fasulo, managing director at RCA, tells GlobeSt.com. "That's why it's also important to put the distress into context with overall market size." A chart in the New York metro overview, one of eight such local "Troubled Assets Radar" market reports now available from RCA, places the region's submarkets well down the list in terms of distressed property as a percentage of the market total.

Fasulo observes that the velocity of properties going into distress has accelerated "as more owners decide to capitulate and hand property back to bank or agree to a fire sale. We are in the first phase of the distress cycle now and should be well into it by the second half of this year."

Office properties comprise about 55% of troubled assets in Manhattan and its suburbs, according to RCA. Nearly $7 billion of the New York-area assets measured by RCA fall under the "troubled asset" heading, compared to $63.9 billion of such assets nationally. Another $2.1 billion of local assets are experiencing loan restructuring or modification, with a total of $15.4 billion worth of assets falling into this category nationally. To date, only $77 million in New York City-area distressed assets have been taken back by lenders, compared with $7.6 billion nationwide.