Just 25 banks were closed down in US in the year 2008 and that was seen as an unbearable level by then. But the year 2009 bank closures hit the 25 mark within the first three months, and the US FED was only warning of further increase in bank closures in the remaining months of 2009.
That became true with over 140 banks getting closed in the year 2009 making it the record year for bank closures in US. That is indeed not a record the US authorities or the US citizens might cherish.
The US FED says that the massive increase in the US bank closures in 2009 was primarily driven by the crash in commercial real estate prices. The sub-prime lending withdrawal by the middle of 2008 led to major cancellation of commercial real estate deals across US cities. That forced many buyers to sell off their commercial real estate assets fearing asset bubble.
The bubble eventually happened in 2009 forcing many banks to write off their commercial loans , which in turn ate away all their reserves and profits. The US FED is now reporting further deterioration in the US bank asset quality and says that there could be comparable bank closures in 2010. As of now, we can only hope to see a better US economic recovery in the coming months, which can help out the commercial real estate sector to some extent.