In 2021, 2,215 different multifamily lenders provided a total of $487.3 billion in new mortgages for apartment buildings with five or more units, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) annual report of the multifamily lending market.
Last year’s $487.3 billion in volume represents a 35% increase from 2020’s tally of $359.7 billion. Thirty-two percent of the active lenders made five or fewer multifamily loans over the course of the year.
”2021 saw a record level of borrowing and lending backed by multifamily rental properties,” says Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s vice president of commercial real estate research. “Strong property fundamentals, rising values and low interest rates all contributed to the jump in volume, as well as strong demand from every capital source to make multifamily loans. The mix of lenders in the data show the depth and diversity of the apartment lending market.”
“The first half of 2022 saw continued lending momentum, but significant changes in equity and debt markets – due to higher interest rates and economic uncertainty – have affected the demand and supply of debt,” Woodwell continues. “Our latest forecast anticipates that 2022 volume will fall 10 percent from last year’s record levels.”
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 $487.3 billion of multifamily mortgages originated in 2021 went to a variety of investors. By dollar volume, the greatest share (34% of the total) went to depositories.
The top five multifamily lenders in 2021 by dollar volume were Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase & Company, Berkadia, Walker & Dunlop, and CBRE.
Read the full report here.
Image: “JVL Multifamily” by pasa47 is licensed under CC BY 2.0
