The Washington metro carries $9.3 billion of CMBS across 239 loans, and the strain sits squarely in one sector. Office is both the largest book at $4.6 billion and the most distressed, running a 22.4% distress rate against an 11.3% national mark — roughly double the country. Overall metro distress stands at 12.0% as of July 2026, and the filed record has been rising. Away from office the book is quiet: retail at $2.5 billion tracks the national rate almost exactly at 2.6%, and mixed-use, hospitality and industrial show little to no declared distress.
The maturity wall is front-loaded on paper but concentrated in the back half. The heaviest single year lands in 2029, with $2.4 billion coming due — 26% of the entire book — though that vintage carries a modest 6.5% distress rate today. The nearer 2027 slug of $1.3 billion is the sharper pressure point, already marked at a 42.5% distress rate. Metro-wide median DSCR holds at 1.77.
On the ground, the past year brought 189 distress events — 98 store closures and 91 layoff notices touching 9,763 jobs — even as headline unemployment reads 4.0%, down a tenth of a point from a year earlier. The signal here is narrow and specific: an office book under real declared stress, sitting inside an otherwise steady metro.
Distress in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV is broad and mutually reinforcing: all four independent feeds read elevated, and all 6 of 6 pairs agree-hot with 0 pairs both quiet and 0 pairs disagreeing. Store closures run at 81 closures (3.27 per 100k jobs, 4th of 392 by count, 76th by rate), WARN notices at 107 notices (0.29% of employment, 6th of 386 by count, 76th by rate), bank CRE over the noncurrent line at $10,894.7mm (17.98% of lent CRE, 5th of 393 by count, 20th by rate), and securitized loans in special servicing at 20 rows (11.85% of securitized balance, 8th of 335 by count, 42nd by rate). The bank leg's 17.98% rate is computed off an allocation, since only 21.3% of its dollars sit at banks that lend in one metro and need no allocation; the rest is split by branch deposits, which the call report cannot confirm.
| Signal | Level | Rate | Rank by count | Rank by rate | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| store closures store closures per 100,000 jobs |
81 closures | 3.27 per 100k jobs | 4 of 392 | 76 of 392 | elevated trailing 365 days to today
|
| layoff notices (WARN) workers on layoff notices as a share of the metro's employment |
107 notices | 0.29% | 6 of 386 | 76 of 386 | elevated trailing 365 days to today
|
| bank CRE at lenders over the noncurrent line share of the CRE lent into this metro that sits at a lender over the blended-noncurrent line |
$10.89bn | 17.98% | 5 of 393 | 20 of 393 | elevated
allocated 2026-03-31
|
| securitized loans in special servicing share of the securitized balance read here that is in special servicing |
20 loan records | 11.85% | 8 of 335 | 42 of 335 | elevated 2026-07-29
|
In Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, elevated distress signals include bank distressed CRE exposure at $10.89bn (with bank CRE at risk at the 90th percentile reaching 15.4% of a $60.58bn portfolio), CMBS special servicing UPB of $1.10bn (11.8% of metro UPB), plus ground-level signals from closures and WARN notices. The reading on signal convergence is 4, but a reading on the exact share of bank assets allocated to CRE is unavailable.
| Bank | Deposit share | CRE / Capital* | Room contributed | Noncurrent CRE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Union Bank VA | 42.7% | 264% total 363%
|
🔒 | 0.42% |
| Eaglebank MD | 100.0% | 258% total 355%
|
🔒 | 2.20% |
| Primis Bank VA | 34.2% | 188% total 317%
|
🔒 | 3.31% |
| Industrial Bank DC | 74.3% | 131% total 212%
|
🔒 | 8.38% |
| The Freedom Bank Of Virginia VA | 100.0% | 175% total 290%
|
🔒 | 1.85% |
| Bank Of Clarke VA | 55.0% | 195% total 329%
|
🔒 | 1.45% |
| Amalgamated Bank NY | 17.0% | 235% total 239%
|
🔒 | 4.15% |
| Virginia National Bank VA | 42.8% | 226% total 289%
|
🔒 | 0.00% |
| Fulton Bank, National Association PA | 1.5% | 184% total 283%
|
🔒 | 0.79% |
| Fvcbank VA | 98.2% | 284% total 354%
|
🔒 | 0.96% |
| The National Capital Bank Of Washington DC | 100.0% | 262% total 327%
|
🔒 | 2.45% |
| First United Bank & Trust MD | 13.4% | 201% total 285%
|
🔒 | 0.19% |
| Woodsboro Bank MD | 100.0% | 232% total 415%
|
🔒 | 0.16% |
| Acnb Bank PA | 11.8% | 232% total 333%
|
🔒 | 0.21% |
| Jefferson Security Bank WV | 65.6% | 210% total 257%
|
🔒 | 0.00% |
| Middletown Valley Bank MD | 40.7% | 249% total 381%
|
🔒 | 0.00% |
| Potomac Bank WV | 80.5% | 276% total 389%
|
🔒 | 0.00% |
| City National Bank Of West Virginia WV | 2.9% | 206% total 241%
|
🔒 | 0.30% |
| The Harbor Bank Of Maryland MD | 14.5% | 226% total 313%
|
🔒 | 2.37% |
| Blue Ridge Bank, National Association VA | 3.3% | 255% total 315%
|
🔒 | 0.14% |
| Citizens And Farmers Bank VA | 2.4% | 267% total 304%
|
🔒 | 0.00% |
| Promiseone Bank GA | 17.5% | 284% total 364%
|
🔒 | 1.01% |
| First Bank VA | 6.3% | 283% total 391%
|
🔒 | 0.00% |
| Somerset Trust Company PA | 0.8% | 206% total 290%
|
🔒 | 1.51% |
| Presidential Bank, Fsb MD | 100.0% | 321% total 336%
|
🔒 | 1.83% |
| Mainstreet Bank VA | 100.0% | 379% total 538%
|
🔒 | 3.26% |
| John Marshall Bank VA | 100.0% | 337% total 439%
|
🔒 | 0.00% |
| Trustar Bank VA | 100.0% | 422% total 499%
|
🔒 | 0.63% |
| Old Dominion National Bank VA | 73.7% | 312% total 365%
|
🔒 | 1.52% |
| City First Bank, National Association DC | 70.7% | 378% total 438%
|
🔒 | 1.20% |
| Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Company VA | 46.6% | 335% total 424%
|
🔒 | 1.24% |
| Shore United Bank, National Association MD | 19.4% | 326% total 436%
|
🔒 | 1.78% |
| Hingham Institution For Savings MA | 7.4% | 525% total 552%
|
🔒 | 1.03% |
| Mvb Bank, Inc WV | 6.9% | 312% total 373%
|
🔒 | 0.25% |
| Carter Bank & Trust VA | 6.3% | 395% total 423%
|
🔒 | 0.84% |
| Bank | Total CRE | CRE / Capital* | Noncurrent CRE | Early Warning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial Bank | $266M | 131% total 212%
|
8.38% | 🔒 |
| Mainstreet Bank | $1.6B | 379% total 538%
|
3.26% | 🔒 |
| Hsbc Bank Usa, National Association | $1.6B | 7% total 8%
|
15.70% | 🔒 |
| Eaglebank | $4.7B | 258% total 355%
|
2.20% | 🔒 |
| Capital Bank, National Association | $1.5B | 304% total 419%
|
1.82% | 🔒 |
| Bank Of Clarke | $811M | 195% total 329%
|
1.45% | 🔒 |
| Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Company | $5.5B | 335% total 424%
|
1.24% | 🔒 |
| City First Bank, National Association | $853M | 378% total 438%
|
1.20% | 🔒 |
Banks lending in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV show tight capacity to refinance its maturing CRE: the wall-to-room ratio stands at 2.54, ranking it 24 of 270 from the most strained metro. With 35 banks qualifying and 16 excluded, that ratio narrows to 1.09 before committed draws of $2.90bn are deducted from the $2.37bn in room available before commitments. After those committed draws, room drops to $1.02bn against a maturing CMBS balance of $2.59bn across 64 loans, with 12.4% of that debt distressed — a gap suggesting limited local bank slack.
| REIT | SS NOI | SS Revenue | Occupancy | Rent | As Of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AVB | — | -0.2% | 94.5% | -1.5% | 2026-02-05 |
| EQR | +0.2% | +1.7% | 96.3% | +2.8% | 2026-04-28 |
| MAA | +1.1% | +1.7% | 96.1% | +1.8% | 2026-07-29 |
In the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro over the past 365 days, on-the-ground activity has shown 82 store closures and 93 WARN notices, affecting a floor of 9,831 jobs (though notices with no stated headcount contribute zero, so the true number is likely higher). Additionally, there have been 5 CRE-likely bankruptcies filed in the states where this metro’s collateral sits — a state-proxy figure, not a metro-native count. Several of these closures are still pending review and are not yet confirmed as finalized, so the confirmed figure may be slightly lower than raw counts suggest.