Are banks vulnerable to a crisis in commercial real estate?

Renewed stress in the banking industry has a way of focusing the mind. Since March, when the abrupt and unexpected failure of two regional U.S. banks, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, rocked U.S. markets, investors have begun voicing concerns about the balance sheet vulnerabilities of regional banks - and more specifically, their exposure to commercial real estate (CRE). Those concerns have some merit. Compared to big banks, small banks hold 4.4 times more exposure to U.S. CRE loans than their larger peers. Within that cohort of small banks, CRE loans make up 28.7% of assets, compared...