Multifamily Lending Hit Record High Of $487 Billion Last Year

In 2021, 2,215 different multifamily lenders provided a total of $487.3 billion in new mortgages for apartment buildings with five or more units, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) annual report of the multifamily lending market.

Last year’s $487.3 billion in volume represents a 35 percent increase from 2020’s tally of $359.7 billion. Thirty-two percent of the active lenders made five or fewer multifamily loans over the course of the year.

”2021 saw a record level of borrowing and lending backed by multifamily rental properties,” said Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research. “Strong property fundamentals, rising values, and low interest rates all contributed to the jump in volume, as well as strong demand from every capital source to make multifamily loans. The mix of lenders in the data show the depth and diversity of the apartment lending market.”

Woodwell continued, “The first half of 2022 saw continued lending momentum, but significant changes in equity and debt markets – due to higher interest rates and economic uncertainty – have affected the demand and supply of debt. Our latest forecast anticipates that 2022 volume will fall 10 percent from last year’s record levels.”

MBA’s 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.

The $487.3 billion of multifamily mortgages originated in 2021 went to a variety of investors. By dollar volume, the greatest share (34 percent of the total) went to depositories. 

The top five multifamily lenders in 2021 by dollar volume were Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase & Company, Berkadia, Walker & Dunlop, and CBRE.

MBA’s report is the most comprehensive view available of the multifamily lending market and includes:

• A detailed summary of the $487.3 billion multifamily market;
• Profiles of distinct market segments, including the very-small loan (loans of $1 million or less) lender segment;
• A breakout of 2021 multifamily lending volume by investor group;
• A listing of 2,215 lenders who made multifamily loans in 2020, including their lending volume, number of loans made and average loan size; and
• A listing of metropolitan areas and the volume of very-small loans made in each in 2021.

The report is based on data from the MBA 2021 Commercial Multifamily Annual Origination Volume Summation and HMDA data. MBA’s survey targets dedicated commercial/multifamily originators and covers $683 billion in commercial/multifamily loans in 2021. The HMDA data adds multifamily loans from banks, thrifts and other institutions that meet certain single-family origination thresholds. When combined, the two datasets provide the most comprehensive assessment of the multifamily lending market available.