NEW YORK CITY-The estimate is $1.5 billion. That's how muchCMBS is expected to hit the market next week, allat the hands of Goldman Sachs, Citigroup andJeffries Group, Bloomberg is reporting. Thepackage is backed by 175 properties around the country and a totalof 79 loans.

The CMBS market has clearly been in a state of upheaval in pastmonths, re-awakening rather extremist talk of the death of thevehicle. As GlobeSt.com reported last week, specialservicers have been able to handle more CMBS loan resolutions eachyear since 2009, and Fitch Ratings expects thattrend to continue throughout 2012. At the same time, lossseverities appear to be on the wane after hitting a high water markof 45%, the ratings agency said in its annual US CMBS Loss Studyissued earlier this week.

Throughout 2011, loss severities actually declined in most majorproperty types, aside from hotels, where severities rose to 55.4%,coming in second behind retail with 56.4%. Looking ahead, Fitch hasa wary eye on office, currently the only CMBS asset type that it’sassigned a negative outlook. "Office loans and properties alongwith tertiary markets are Fitch’s chief concerns with respect toloss severities in 2012,” says senior director AdamFox.