Xmas shop until you drop – and mall forecloses

And, you thought that bursting real estate bubble was limited to just subprime home loans?

Think again.

And, think again that this isn’t a Texas problem. Texas is listed as one of the top four at-risk states.

Defaults on mall mortgage payments could double or triple by the end of 2009. A number of hotels around the country could be in trouble, too.

“We’re probably in the first inning of the commercial mortgage problem,” said Scott Tross, a real estate lawyer with Herrick Feinstein in New Jersey.

As the story notes, that then means less in local property tax revenue, among other fallout.

And, as with home loans, who knows where the mortgages are actually at today. So, you could have malls being shut down, but with nobody to repo them, nobody to possibly buy notes and re-open the tenant stores, etc.

And, the bankruptcy of mini-mall/strip mall tenants like Circuit City and Linens ’n Things certainly doesn’t help matters.