The securitization of apartment loans leapt by nearly 40 percent last year at the Federal National Mortgage Association. Quarterly activity surged by more than a fourth.
Fourth-quarter issuance of multifamily mortgage-backed securities totaled roughly $10.8 billion, the Washington, D.C.-based company reported.
Business jumped from $8.5 billion previously reported by Fannie Mae for the third quarter. During the final three months of 2011, multifamily issuance totaled $7.2 billion.
Fourth-quarter strength was partially supported by “the Fed’s aggressive bond-buying program, which has helped to keep borrowing costs at record lows,” Fannie Mae Senior Vice President of Multifamily Capital Markets Kimberly Johnson said in the report.
The latest activity brought full-year 2012 volume to a “robust” $33.1 billion, climbing from the previous year’s $23.8 billion.
Fannie said it additionally resecuritized $2.2 billion in DUS MBS through its guaranteed multifamily structures in the fourth quarter. GeMS volume was $10 billion for all of last year.
Helping to drive multifamily issuance last year at the secondary lender was Beech Street Capital LLC, which reported that it funded $4.0 billion in agency multifamily loans in 2012. The Bethesda, Md.-based company said business has doubled each of the past two years.
Beech Street noted that its Fannie business was up 150 percent last year, while its Freddie Mac originations tripled.
Beech Street’s servicing portfolio finished 2012 at 643 loans for more than $7.3 billion.
