If the saga at Silicon Valley Bank hastens the arrival of the next recession, expect to see many more properties go into default sooner rather than later. This is bad news for lenders because they have ramped up their financing of real estate.

A rising number of investment platforms, asset managers and sponsors are tapping into retail investor appetite for private real estate assets.

Banks are being compelled to pull back from real estate lending in the face of falling values and the imminent introduction of new Basel III rules that introduce a minimum capital floor.

Signature Bank, which has a sizable commercial real estate loan portfolio, was shut by regulators in the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse. The Biden administration has revived a proposal to end the tax advantages provided by like-kind...