CMBS Buyers Suffer First Loss on AAA Debt Since Financial Crisis

For the first time since the financial crisis, investors in top-rated bonds backed by commercial real estate debt are getting hit with losses.

Buyers of the AAA portion of a $308 million note backed by the mortgage on the 1740 Broadway building in midtown Manhattan got less than three-quarters of their original investment back earlier this month after the loan was sold at a steep discount. It’s the first such loss of the post-crisis era, according to Barclays Plc. All five groups of lower ranking creditors were wiped out.

Market watchers say the fact the pain is reaching all ...