Commercial Mortgage Lending Continues Rebound as Originations Hit $184.3 Billion in 2011

Commercial and multifamily mortgage origination volumes increased 55 percent in 2011, with mortgage bankers reporting $184.3 billion of closed commercial and multifamily loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) 2011 Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance: Annual Origination Volume Summation. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) were collectively the leading investor group for whom loans were originated in 2011, responsible for $57.6 billion of the total. Life insurance companies and pension funds saw the second highest volume, $49.3 billion. In terms of property types, multifamily properties saw the highest origination volume, $77.4 billion, followed by office properties with $34.4 billion of originations. First liens accounted for 93 percent of the total dollar volume closed. Lending for retail properties saw the largest percentage increase among the major property types, followed closely by multifamily and industrial properties.  Origination volumes for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA each hit new records in 2011. Despite their record volumes, faster growth in multifamily lending by other investors led the market share of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) to decline in 2011. Loans originated for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac accounted for 57 percent of multifamily volume in 2011, down from 63 percent in 2010 and 85 percent in 2009. "Commercial mortgage lending continues to rebound from its 2009 lows," said Jamie Woodwell, MBA's VP of commercial real estate research. "Originations for life companies, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA were all strong, and banks, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) issuers and others also saw strong growth. With interest rates still low and stability returning to real estate fundamentals, the rebound is expected to continue in 2012."