The delinquency rate for loans within conduit commercial mortgage-backed securities deals fell to 9.18% in May, a slight dip from a month earlier, Moody’s Investors Service said Monday. During May, the total number of delinquent loans fell to 4,017, compared to 4,047 in April. “We expect a high single-digit or low double-digit delinquency rate to persist over the near term,” said Tad Philipp, director of Moody’s commercial real estate research. When analyzing all delinquent loans in May, the total dollar balance hit $56 billion. At the same time, the number of loans that became newly delinquent last month reached $3.4 billion. Another $4.1 billion in delinquent loans were worked out during the same period. In May, the volume of specially serviced loans remained at 3.5% or greater, which suggests a general persistence in delinquencies, Moody’s asserted. Moody’s uses its delinquency tracker to obtain up-to-date information on all U.S. conduit CMBS deals issued since the beginning of 1998. Analysts Moody’s track commercial delinquencies by loan type and found delinquencies on industrial properties rose the most in May, climbing 93 basis points to a delinquency rate of 11.16%. The second-highest increase in delinquencies occurred with the multifamily segment, which rose 41 basis points to 15.76%. The sector with the greatest decline in delinquencies was retail, which experienced a delinquency rate that fell 31 basis points to 7.31%. Write to: Kerri Panchuk.