A new report on the multifamily lending market found that the volume of loans for multifamily housing dropped 49 percent in 2023.
The report, from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA), said that 2,520 different multifamily lenders provided $246.2 billion in new mortgages for apartment buildings with five or more units last year. That’s 49 percent lower than 2022.
“Multifamily lending fell by roughly half in 2023 as sales transactions declined and far fewer property owners sought to refinance their loans,” Jamie Woodwell, head of commercial real estate research at MBA, said. “The analysis shows that even with the drop in activity, the multifamily lending market remains broad and deep, with more than 2,500 different lenders making more than 36,000 mortgage loans backed by multifamily properties in amounts ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of millions.”
About 42 percent of the $246.2 billion of multifamily mortgages originated in 2023 went to Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Further, the top five multifamily lenders in 2023 by dollar volume were Berkadia, Walker & Dunlop, JP Morgan Chase, CBRE, and Greystone.
The MBA report is based on its surveys of the larger multifamily lenders and the recently released Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data that covers multifamily loans made by many smaller lenders, particularly commercial banks.