Multifamily lenders provided a total of $246.2 billion in new mortgages for apartment buildings with five or more units in 2023 – a decrease of 49% compared with 2022, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
Fifty-one percent of the 2,520 different lenders providing data made five or fewer multifamily loans over the course of the year.
“Multifamily lending fell by roughly half in 2023 as sales transactions declined and far fewer property owners sought to refinance their loans,” says Jamie Woodwell, Head of Commercial Real Estate Research for the MBA, in a statement. “The analysis shows that even with the drop in activity, the multifamily lending market remains broad and deep, with more than 2,500 different lenders making more than 36,000 mortgage loans backed by multifamily properties in amounts ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of millions.”
The MBA 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 $246.2 billion of multifamily mortgages originated in 2023 went to a variety of investors. By dollar volume, the greatest share (42% of the total) went to government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The top five multifamily lenders in 2023 by dollar volume were Berkadia, Walker & Dunlop, JP Morgan Chase & Company, CBRE, and Greystone.
Photo: Rivage
