NEW YORK CITY-Fitch Ratings projects that fewer US CMBS loans will come due in 2012. The company finds that, of those it rates, 1,200 commercial mortgage loans, totaling $17.3 billion, will come due next year, compared to the 2,000 that matured this year. This year's maturing loans totaled $22.5 billion.

The loans coming due next year will be easier to refinance, due to several factors. “The loans from the older vintages that benefit from 10 years of amortization and stable performance, are easier to finance,” Fitch Ratings senior director Adam Fox tells GlobeSt.com.

More challenging are loans that were originated in 2007, he says, when real estate values were at their peak. “It’s a drop in volume—it’s easier for the market to absorb as the CMBS market slows down. Fewer securities are easier to manage.”