Commercial and Multifamily Mortgage Debt Outstanding

During the first three months of 2018, commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding increased more than during any other first quarter since before the Great Recession.

by Jamie Woodwell and Reggie Booker

1Q changes; $ in millions

Source: MBA

During the first three months of 2018, commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding (shown by the red line in the chart) increased more than during any other first quarter since before the Great Recession. Interestingly, this year’s increase was driven by the CMBS market, which added $6 billion of mortgages to its balances. This is a sharp contrast to the $21 billion decline over the same period in 2017. For the first time since 2007, CMBS has seen three straight quarters of increase.

The level of commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding increased by $44.3 billion in the first quarter of 2018 as all four major investor groups increased their holdings. That is a 1.4 percent increase over the fourth quarter of 2017, according to MBA’s latest Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Debt Outstanding report. Total commercial/multifamily debt outstanding rose to $3.2 trillion at the end of the first quarter, while multifamily mortgage debt outstanding rose to $1.3 trillion, an increase of $19.3 billion from the fourth of quarter of 2017. 

Jamie Woodwell is the Mortgage Bankers Association’s vice president of commercial real estate research.

Reggie Booker is the Mortgage Bankers Association’s associate director of commercial real estate research.

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