This article originally appeared on Multifamily Executive.
Multifamily lending saw a 6% increase in 2017, reaching an all-time high of $285 billion in new mortgages for apartment buildings with five or more units, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA's) annual report on the multifamily lending market.
The $285 billion in multifamily mortgages originated in 2017 were funded by a variety of capital sources. By dollar volume, the most (46%) were from the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The top five private multifamily lenders in 2017 by dollar volume were Wells Fargo, CBRE Capital Markets, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Walker & Dunlop, and Berkadia. Additionally, 58% of the active lenders made five or fewer multifamily loans over the course of the year.
“The multifamily lending market in 2017 benefited from improving fundamentals, rising property values, and low interest rates,” said Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s vice president of commercial real estate research, in a statement. “The result was larger loan sizes and record levels of overall borrowing and lending.
"The market remains well served, with 2,554 lenders last year making loans backed by multifamily rental properties," Woodwell continued. "Demand came from borrowers and lenders of all sizes, with loan amounts ranging from the thousands of dollars to the hundreds of millions.”
The report is available for purchase here from the MBA. It includes profiles of distinct market segments, including the very-small loan lender segment (loans of $1 million or less); a break-out of 2017 multifamily lending volume by investor group; a listing of the 2,554 lenders that made multifamily loans in 2017, 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 2017.
