Thanks to a robust market for apartment loans, overall commercial real estate loan production jumped last year and is expected to continue expanding.
Commercial mortgage lenders originated $244.2 billion in U.S. CRE loans during 2012.
Volume jumped from the prior year, when $184.3 billion in commercial mortgage production was generated.
The data was reported Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association in its 2012 Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Annual Origination Volume Summation.
Loans originated for the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. and the Federal Housing Administration accounted for $77.6 billion of last year’s activity.
A year earlier, agency CRE volume was $57.6 billion.
Another $56.9 billion in commercial mortgage originations was generated by commercial banks and savings institutions.
The next biggest source of CRE originations were life insurance companies and pension funds, followed by issuers of commercial mortgage-backed securities, real estate investment trust and investment funds, and credit companies and specialty finance firms.
Multifamily originations amounted to $103.2 billion last year, jumping from $77.4 billion the previous year. This was the biggest category by property type.
“The multifamily market continued to be a major driver of activity, and nearly every investor group increased their activity from the year before, MBA Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell said in a statement. “With a continuation of low interest rates and improving property markets, originations are on track for continued growth this year.”
