Commercial and Multifamily Debt Grows Throughout 2021

The level of mortgage debt for commercial and multifamily property rose by $44.6 billion (11%) in the first quarter of 2021, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) report. Total commercial and multifamily debt rose to $3.93 trillion by the end of the first quarter of 2021. Multifamily mortgage debt alone increased $28.8 billion (1.7%) to $1.7 trillion from the fourth quarter of 2020. 

Jamie Woodwell, MBA's vice president of Commercial Real Estate Research, said, “The pandemic-era growth in the amount of commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding continued during the first quarter, but the growth was not evenly distributed… almost two-thirds of the overall growth came from multifamily properties, with 80 percent of that multifamily growth coming from federally-backed Agency and GSE mortgage-backed securities and portfolios."   

Major capital sources increased their holding of commercial and multifamily mortgages during the first quarter of 2021. Commercial banks held the largest share (38%) of commercial and multifamily mortgages at $1.5 trillion. Agency and GSE portfolios and mortgage-backed securities are the second largest holders (22%) of commercial and multifamily mortgages at $861 billion. Life insurance companies hold 15%. CMBS, CDO, and other ABS issues hold 14%. (CMBS is commercial mortgage-backed securities; CDO is the collateralized debt obligation, and ABS is the other asset-backed securities issues.) 

Half of the total multifamily debt is held by agency and GSE portfolios and MBS at $861 billion. Banks and thrifts hold a share of $481 billion (28%), life insurance companies hold a share of $171 billion (10%), state and local government hold a share of $106 billion (6%), CMBS, CDO, and other ABS issues hold $53 billion (3%). 

Click the link to read the full Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Debt Outstanding report.