Commercial, multifamily originations up 34% in Q4

Commercial and multifamily originations rose quarter over quarter and year over year in Q4

Commercial and multifamily mortgage originations were up 34% between the third and fourth quarters of 2013 and 16% higher than Q4 of 2012, according to data released Monday.

Commercial and multifamily originations for all of 2013 were also up, rising 15% from 2012, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s quarterly commercial and multifamily origination survey.

“Commercial and multifamily mortgage borrowing and lending ended 2013 on a particularly strong note,” said Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research. “The fourth quarter marked the highest volume of mortgage originations since 2007, as all the major investor groups increased their activity. Initial indications are that 2013’s volume was up 15 percent from 2012 – putting 2013 originations in the neighborhood of $280 billion in closed loans.”

The year-over-year rise in Q4 was driven by an increase in originations for office, retail and health care properties, according to the MBA. That included a 27% spike in dollar volume for office properties, a 43% boost for retail properties and a 70% increase for health care properties.

Originations for multifamily properties, meanwhile, stayed relatively flat, while originations for hotel properties slipped 9% and originations for industrial properties posted a 30% decline.