U.S. on pace for 100+ bank failures in 2011

One dozen U.S. banks failed last month, mostly in foreclosure hotspots like Florida and California and mostly because of soured commercial real estate loans, according to the latest data from Trepp. That puts the nation’s year-to-date total number of bank failures at 23, putting the U.S. on pace to exceed 100 failures once again this year. (Last year, there were 157 bank failures). Of the $320 million in non-performing loans reported by February’s failed banks, 37 percent were construction loans, 35 percent were commercial mortgages and 20 percent were residential real estate loans. Trepp said it doesn’t foresee bank failures easing up before 2012. TRD