Record high for commercial, multifamily originations

2018 saw $573.9 billion originated says MBA

Record high for commercial, multifamily originations

The dollar volume of commercial and multifamily originations reached a new high in 2018, after rising 8% year-over-year.

The Mortgage Bankers Association says that bankers in the space originated $573.9 billion with commercial bank portfolios the leading capital source ($174.0 billion) while Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (the GSEs) were responsible for $142.3 billion, followed by commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) issuers, life insurance companies and pension funds, and REITs, mortgage REITs and investment funds.

"Solid fundamentals, growing property values, low interest rates and strong appetites from both borrowers and lenders all helped drive an 8% increase in recorded multifamily lending from a year ago,” said said Jamie Woodwell, MBA's Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research. “Repeat participants in our survey increased their lending by 4% during 2018, with the remaining growth coming from the addition of new firms."

Multifamily properties saw the highest volume of mortgage bankers' origination volume ($266.4bn) followed by office buildings, retail properties, industrial, hotel/motel and health care.

First liens accounted for 96% of the total dollar volume closed.

"Among property types, multifamily pulled even further ahead as the dominant lending target, growing to 46% of total mortgage banker lending - a series high," added Woodwell.