Loans

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations were 18 percent lower in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to a year ago, and increased 76 percent from the third quarter of 2020, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations. A decrease in originations for hotel, retail, office and healthcare properties led the overall decline in lending volumes when compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. There was a 79 percent year-over-year decrease in the dollar volume of loans for hotel properties, 72 percent dip for retail properties, 6 percent decline for office properties and a 12 percent decrease for healthcare properties. Industrial property loan originations increased 15 percent, while multifamily property lending rose 14 percent. Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s vice president of commercial research, says that unsurprisingly the data shows that the property types most affected by the pandemic struggled to transact. “Borrowing and lending remain weakest for the property types most impacted by the pandemic — particularly hotel and retail buildings,” says Woodwell. “Multifamily, led by government-backed financing from FHA, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, continued to see the strongest commercial mortgage activity.” Among investor types, the dollar volume of loans …