KBRA releases the March 2026 issue of CMBS Trend Watch.

In March, 12 commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) private label issuance deals closed, including eight single-borrower (SB) and four conduits, bringing the year-to-date (YTD) issuance total to $32.9 billion. This represents a 12.4% decrease in year-over-year (YoY) Q1 issuance volume. Commercial real estate (CRE) collateralized loan obligation (CLO) issuance jumped to six deals, doubling February's three, bringing YTD issuance to $14.5 billion, representing a 73.6% Q1 YoY increase.

With the Middle East conflict, higher energy prices, and stickier inflation, the Federal Reserve signaled it may be less inclined to lower interest rates. These macroeconomic uncertainties have also led to increasing loan and bond spreads. Against this backdrop and based on our current visibility, there are up to 13 CMBS deals slated to be announced in April, including nine SB, and four conduits; as well as four CRE CLOs, and two Freddie Mac K-Series (Agency). However, persistent market volatility could delay some of these transactions.

In March, KBRA published pre-sales for seven deals ($5.1 billion), including two CRE CLOs ($1.5 billion), two conduits ($1.4 billion), two Single Family Rental (SF) ($965.7 million), and one SB ($1.2 billion). March's surveillance activity included rating reviews of 604 securities. Of the 604 ratings, 534 were affirmed (88.4%), 65 were downgraded (10.8%), and five were upgraded (0.8%). In addition, eight ratings were placed on Watch Downgrade (DN).

This month's edition also highlights recent KBRA research publications that cover various topical issues.

Click here to view the report.

Recent Publications

• CMBS Trend Watch: February 2026
• CMBS Loan Performance Trends: March 2026
• Metro-Level CRE Loan Distress: Bifurcated Performance
• Institutional SFR Ownership Limits Could Slow Sector Growth
• Anatomy of Loss in Single-Borrower CMBS: A Loan-Level Analysis
• Data Center Leases: Variations on Established Themes
• Evolving Data Center Landscape: Insights & Implementation Breakfast—KBRA Event Recap
• CREFC January Conference 2026 – Day 1 Recap
• CREFC January Conference 2026 – Day 2 Recap
• CREFC January Conference 2026 – Day 3 Recap
• 2026 U.S. CMBS Outlook: Issuance Momentum Builds; Loan Distress Remains Elevated
• 2025 CMBS Loan Maturities: Office Drives Improving Refinance Rates
• KBRA CMBS Loss Compendium Update: December 2025
• Single-Borrower CMBS Default and Loss Study: Shaped by Unprecedented Events

About KBRA

KBRA, one of the major credit rating agencies, is registered in the U.S., EU, and the UK. KBRA is recognized as a Qualified Rating Agency in Taiwan, and is also a Designated Rating Organization for structured finance ratings in Canada. As a full-service credit rating agency, investors can use KBRA ratings for regulatory capital purposes in multiple jurisdictions.

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