what are commercial mortgage backed securities cmbs 
commercial mortgage backed securities cmbs are fixed income investment products that are backed by mortgages on commercial properties rather than residential real estate cmbs can provide liquidity to real estate investors and commercial lenders alike because there are no rules for standardizing the structures of cmbs their valuations can be difficult the underlying securities of cmbs may include a number of commercial mortgages of varying terms values and property types such as multi family dwellings and commercial real estate cmbs can offer less of a pre payment risk than residential mortgage backed securities rmbs as the term on commercial mortgages is generally fixed 