MBA: Multi-family Lending Roared back in 2011

Multi-family lending increased dramatically in 2011 according to a report released by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today.  Perhaps more important, the lending activity was not only larger but was also broad based. 

There was a total of $110.1 billion in new mortgages granted for apartment buildings with five or more units during 2011, a 60 percent increase over lending in 2010. The loans came from 2,653 different multifamily lenders and while the largest two lenders by dollar volume were those one might expect - Wells Fargo, and JP Morgan Chase, 72 percent of the loans came from lenders who made five or fewer such loans during the year.  MBA said the other lenders in the top five by dollar volume were CBRE Capital Markets, PNC Real Estate, and Berkadia. 

"The $110 billion of borrowing and lending backed by multifamily apartment buildings in 2011 was more than double the amount of just two years earlier," said Jamie Woodwell, MBA's Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research. "The growth is a testament to the improvements in both the underlying multifamily property markets and the broader capital markets."