By Paul Bunby | GlobeSt.
Last year was very nearly one for the record books in terms of commercial and multifamily mortgage lending. The Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday that lenders closed $503.8 billion of loans last year, with more than a quarter of that total coming from commercial bank portfolios. The year’s tally came in just shy of the record $508 billion in originations at the peak of the last cycle.
“Commercial real estate borrowing and lending in 2015 came within a whisker of the record high level of 2007,” says Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s VP of commercial real estate research. “The volume was driven by improving property fundamentals, strong property values and very low interest rates. Despite some credit market disruptions to start off this year and regulatory and other hurdles still ahead, many of those positive factors remain in place.”
