Commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations fell by 48 percent in the second quarter from a year ago and declined by 31 percent from the first quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported in its Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations.

CBRE, Los Angeles, said a temporary freeze in commercial real estate lending and transaction markets beginning in mid-March through early April led to fewer loan closings in the second quarter.

MBA NewsLink interviewed Gregg Gerken, Head of Commercial Real Estate for TD Bank. He is responsible for a $20 billion investment real estate portfolio and a $2 Billion LIHTC Equity portfolio serving regional institutional real estate clients.

MBA hosted a joint call with Origination Council and Capital Council on August 4th highlighting pertinent issues and challenges facing the commercial real estate finance marketplace. Grandbridge Real Estate Capital Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Matt Rocco chairs the Origination Council and led the call.

Merchants Capital hired Dewayne Hayward as Vice President, Federal Housing Association Asset Management and Mark Ciarrocchi as Senior Vice President, Investor Accounting.

JLL, Chicago, closed $63.8 million in office and apartment property transactions in Minnesota and Colorado.

Freddie Mac, McLean, Va., predicted marginal reductions in rents and increased vacancies as the multifamily market responds to the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic effects.

Initial concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on multifamily real estate have not been realized, said Berkadia, New York.

Enhanced government unemployment aid expired last week, meaning more apartment renters could miss payments in coming months, said Zillow, Seattle.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Thursday multifamily property owners with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac who enter into a forbearance agreement must inform their tenants about protections during the property owner's forbearance and repayment periods.

Greystar Real Estate Partners, Charleston, S.C., launched and funded Greystar Credit Partners II LP, a $600 million commercial real estate debt fund that will focus acquiring securitized subordinated debt issued by the GSEs and private label securitizations, junior notes or mezzanine debt collateralized by multifamily assets.