MBA finds commercial/multifamily originations down 46 percent in 2009

Commercial and multifamily mortgage origination volumes decreased 46 percent in 2009 among repeat reporters, with mortgage bankers reporting $82.3 billion of closed commercial and multifamily loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) 2009 Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance: Annual Origination Volume Summation. Commercial banks and savings institutions were the largest single investor group for commercial and multifamily mortgages, responsible for $19.8 billion, or 24 percent, of the closed loan volume. Multifamily properties were the dominant property type--representing $36.5 billion, or 44 percent of the lending total. "Relatively few commercial mortgages were made in 2009, as the recession curtailed both the supply of and demand for new mortgage debt," said Jamie Woodwell, MBA's vice president of commercial real estate research. "As the recession has receded, origination volumes have picked up slightly, but the absolute levels remain low." Among the key findings are: ►Decreases were seen across most property types and investor groups, and were led by declines in loans intended for: Credit companies; REITS, mortgage REITs and investment funds; and Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), collateralized debt obligations (CDO) and other asset-backed security (ABS) conduits. ►$15.9 billion of multifamily loans were closed for Fannie Mae, a 32 percent decline from 2008. ►$15.2 billion of multifamily loans were closed for Freddie Mac, a 24 percent decline from 2008. ►$5.8 billion of loans were closed for FHA/Ginnie Mae, a 168 percent increase from 2008. Loans for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac accounted for 85 percent of the total reported multifamily volume in 2009. ►Lending for office properties had the largest percentage decrease in originations by property type, followed closely by retail properties and hotels/motels. Year-over-year changes are based on the changes in volume among "repeat reporters" that participated in both the 2008 and 2009 surveys. For more information, visit www.mortgagebankers.org.