WASHINGTON, D.C. — The total amount of commercial and multifamily loans that mortgage bankers closed in 2021 at $683.2 billion was 55 percent higher than the $441.5 billion reported in 2020, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s 2021 Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Annual Origination Volume Summation. Multifamily mortgage lending took the lead last year at $376 billion, followed by loans for office buildings, industrial properties, retail, hotel/motel and healthcare properties.
Depositories, such as banks, were the leading capital source for mortgage banker originated loans in 2021, responsible for $157 billion of the total. Private label commercial mortgage backed security (CMBS) saw the second-highest volume at $141 billion, followed by government-sponsored enterprises such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, life insurance companies and pension funds and investor-driven lenders.
MBA estimates that total commercial real estate mortgage lending — including activity from small and mid-sized lenders not tracked by MBA — totaled $890.6 billion in 2021, a 45 percent increase over 2020 at $614 billion and a 25 percent increase over the previous annual record of $713 billion in 2019.
“Improving property fundamentals and strong price appreciation drove borrowing and lending backed by commercial and multifamily properties to new highs in 2021, with strong activity from every capital source,” says Jamie Woodwell, vice president of commercial real estate research of MBA. “Lending was 48 percent higher than any previous annual total for industrial properties and 31 percent higher for multifamily properties. Despite bounce-backs from low 2020 volumes, lending for other major property types remained below previous highs.”
Additionally, MBA now expects 2022 volume to stay on track with 2021 activity. The Washington, D.C.-based organization is forecasting for total commercial and multifamily borrowing and lending activity to reach $895 billion, a slight increase from 2021 volume.