MBA Chart of the Week: Net Change in Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Debt Outstanding

Commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding continued to climb in the third quarter, driven by increases in the dollar amount of loans held in bank portfolios according to MBA’s Commercial/Multifamily Real Estate Mortgage Debt Outstanding report.   

Banks accounted for 85 percent of the total increase, adding $32 billion to their holdings of commercial real estate loans during the quarter, the largest amount since the series began in 2007.   

Life insurance companies increased their holdings by $8.6 billion, or 2.3 percent, and agency and GSE portfolios and mortgage-backed securities increased their holdings by $6.0 billion, or 1.4 percent. Commercial mortgage-backed securities, collateralized debt obligations and other ABS issues saw the largest decrease at $9.0 billion, or down 1.7 percent.  

Overall, the level of commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding increased by $38.0 billion in the third quarter to $2.76 trillion. Multifamily mortgage debt outstanding rose to $1.02 trillion, an increase of $19.3 billion, or 1.9 percent, from the second quarter.  

The report can be accessed at https://www.mba.org/commercial/multifamily-research.  

To view the Chart of the Week, click https://www.mba.org/news-research-and-resources/forecasts-data-and-reports/forecasts-and-commentary/chart-of-the-week.  

(Jamie Woodwell is vice president of commercial/multifamily research and economics with the Mortgage Bankers Association. He can be reached at jwoodwell@mba.org. Reggie Booker is associate director of commercial/multifamily research with MBA; he can be reached at rbooker@mba.org.)