MBA: Multifamily Lending Declined 1% in 2022 to $480 Billion

In 2022, 2,242 different multifamily lenders provided a total of $480.1 billion in new mortgages for apartment buildings with five or more units, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual report of the multifamily lending market said. 

Last year’s $480.1 billion in multifamily lending volume represent a 1% decrease from 2021 levels. MBA said 33% of the active lenders made five or fewer multifamily loans over the course of the year.

“Multifamily borrowing remained strong in 2022, largely as a result of lending by banks,” said MBA Head of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell. “Beginning in last year’s third quarter, rising and volatile interest rates, uncertainty about property values, and questions about some property fundamentals led to a fall off in borrowing and lending across commercial property types, including multifamily. Most capital sources saw a significant decline in lending activity in 2022, but bank activity increased by an almost equal amount. It’s unlikely that this momentum is occurring this year, given current evidence that banks have tightened underwriting standards and borrower demand has weakened.” 

MBA’s report is based on its surveys of the larger multifamily lenders and the recently released Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data that covers multifamily loans made by many smaller lenders, particularly commercial banks.

The $480.1 billion of multifamily mortgages originated in 2022 went to a variety of investors. By dollar volume, the greatest share (42 percent of the total) went to depositories. 

The top five multifamily lenders in 2020 by dollar volume were JP Morgan Chase & Company, Wells Fargo, Walker & Dunlop, Berkadia, and Capital One Financial Corp.

The report is the most comprehensive view available of the multifamily lending market and includes:

-A detailed summary of the $480.1 billion multifamily market;

-Profiles of distinct market segments, including the very-small loan (loans of $1 million or less) lender segment;

-A breakout of 2022 multifamily lending volume by investor group;

-A listing of 2,242 lenders who made multifamily loans in 2022, 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 2022.

MBA’s report is based on data from the MBA 2022 Commercial Multifamily Annual Origination Volume Summation and HMDA data. It targets dedicated commercial/multifamily originators and covered $595 billion in commercial/multifamily loans in 2022. The HMDA data adds 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.

To purchase the report, please visit:

https://www.mba.org/news-and-research/research-and-economics/commercial-multifamily-research/annual-report-on-multifamily-lending