The jump from 1.4% follows a 30-basis-point jump in the third quarter from 1.1%. The non-accrual rate -- the percentage of loans where principal and interest have gone unpaid for at least 90 days -- increased to 0.9% from 0.3% in the third quarter, according to Foresight's estimates.

Foresight principal Matthew Anderson tells GlobeSt.com that the commercial mortgage sector remains much healthier than for-sale residential, however; with the recession looming, the commercial rate probably will go at least a little higher.

"It's not at the alarming stage yet, but lenders are pulling back o the commercial side; the CMBS market is all but shut down so the only folks left are the portfolio lenders, who were cautious already and have become even more cautious now, which means it's a lot harder for commercial borrowers to get loans these days, posing risks for properties in need of refinancing during 2008."

Foresight estimates that total delinquencies for residential mortgages (first-lien single family mortgages) rose to 3.8% during the fourth quarter from 3.4% in third quarter, and is now double the 1.9% rate in the second quarter. Within that total, non-accrual rates rose sharply, to 1.5% from 1.1%, double the 0.8% rate in the second quarter.

The residential side weighed heavily on the total delinquency rate for construction lending, which shot up to 4.8% from 3.2% in the third quarter and is more than double the 2.3% rate from the second quarter. The non-accrual rate double during the quarter to 3.2%.

"This sector has experienced the most rapid erosion of any area of real estate-related lending," Anderson says. "Clearly, the deterioration in for-sale housing markets — both single family and condominiums — is having a major impact."