At least $130 billion of significant commercial mortgages are now in default, foreclosure or bankruptcy in the United States, according to a new report by the research firm Real Capital Analytics.

Although the number of properties sold out of foreclosure is rising, relatively few troubled properties have been liquidated by lenders, the New York-based firm said.

This year so far lenders have taken control and forced the sale of $9.5 billion in mortgages, but in the majority of troubled situations a workout is still ongoing or the loan has been extended or modified and remains on the lender's books, RCA said.

The report is based on 145 defaulted commercial mortgages with an outstanding balance totaling $3.2 billion liquidated so far this year. A total of $1.9 billion of gross proceeds were recovered by lenders, or an average of about 60 percent, before costs and fees.

Other findings of the report are:

• Lenders in the Northeast and West were the most successful in capturing what's owed them for defaulted acquisition and refinancing loans liquidated this year, with average recovery rates of 78 percent and 76 percent, respectively. Those figures were buoyed by Los Angeles, with a recovery rate of 72 percent, and New York City, at 70 percent. However, resolution activity is lighter in the Northeast and West than other areas of the country.

• The Midwest region had the lowest average recovery rate for acquisition and refinancing loans, with lenders capturing 53 percent of debt owed.

• The purpose of the loan is far more important than property type in determining the recovery rate. Development-oriented loans such as land and construction, condo conversion and redevelopment loans have a far lower recovery rate, 48 percent, than acquisition or refinancing loans, at 66 percent.

• Loans on developments in progress have the lowest recovery rate of any loan type, at 32 percent of the outstanding balance.

• Mortgages on retail properties have the highest recovery rate, but the sector has seen relatively few resolutions compared to the huge amount of properties in default.

• Among the major income producing properties, office buildings have the lowest recovery rate, at 53 percent.

• Regional and local banks have the lowest recovery rates of all types of lenders, largely due to a heavier concentration on development and redevelopment-oriented loans.

• The higher the loan-to-value at origination, the lower the recovery rate. Mortgages that were originally 50 percent LTV have a 75 percent recovery rate, while those that were 100 percent or more at origination averaged 57 percent.

The report is based on non-performing mortgages backed by significant commercial real estate that have been liquidated in 2009. The average size of the first mortgage loans in the sample is $13 million.