MBA: Multifamily Lending Up 28% in 2015

Nearly 3,000 lenders provided $249.8 billion for five-plus unit apartment buildings last year–a 28 percent jump in dollar terms year-over-year–the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this morning.  

“Multifamily mortgage borrowing and lending set a new record in 2015,” said MBA Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell. “Demand for mortgages was driven by strong property fundamentals, increasing property values, a robust transaction market and low interest rates.” 

Woodwell noted that the sector’s mortgage capital came from record lending by banks, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and life insurance companies. “As we look at 2016 and 2017, those factors appear to remain in place,” he said.

The multifamily mortgages originated in 2015 went to a variety of investors, Woodwell said. By dollar volume, the greatest share–35 percent of the total–went into commercial bank, thrift and credit union portfolios. MBA reported that 63 percent of active lenders made five or fewer multifamily loans during the year.

The top multifamily lenders in 2015 by dollar volume included JP Morgan Chase and Co., Wells Fargo, Berkadia, CBRE Capital Markets, Inc. and Walker & Dunlop, MBA reported. 

The MBA report also includes:

• A detailed summary of the $249.8 billion multifamily market;
• Profiles of distinct market segments, including the very-small loan (loans of $1 million or less) lender segment;
• A breakout of 2015 multifamily lending volume by investor group;
• A listing of 2,855 lenders who made multifamily loans in 2015, including their lending volume, number of loans made and average loan size; and
• A listing of metropolitan areas and the volume of very-small loans made in each in 2015. 

The report is based on data from MBA’s 2015 Commercial Multifamily Annual Origination Volume Summation survey and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. The MBA survey targets commercial/multifamily originators and covered $504 billion in commercial/multifamily loans in 2015. The HMDA data add multifamily loans from banks, thrifts and other institutions that meet certain single-family origination thresholds. When combined, the two datasets provide the most comprehensive assessment of the multifamily lending market available, Woodwell said. 

Click here to learn more or to purchase the report.