In 2023, 2,520 different multifamily lenders provided a total of $246.2 billion in new mortgages for apartment buildings with five or more units, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) annual report of the multifamily lending market.
Last year’s $246.2 billion in multifamily lending volume represents a 49 percent decrease from 2022 levels. Fifty-one percent of the active lenders made five or fewer multifamily loans over the course of the year.
“Multifamily lending fell by roughly half in 2023 as sales transactions declined and far fewer property owners sought to refinance their loans,” said Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s Head of Commercial Real Estate Research. “The analysis shows that even with the drop in activity, the multifamily lending market remains broad and deep, with more than 2,500 different lenders making more than 36,000 mortgage loans backed by multifamily properties in amounts ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of millions.”
The MBA report is based on its surveys of the larger multifamily lenders and the recently released Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data that covers multifamily loans made by many smaller lenders, particularly commercial banks.
The $246.2 billion of multifamily mortgages originated in 2023 went to a variety of investors. By dollar volume, the greatest share (42 percent of the total) went to Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The top five multifamily lenders in 2023 by dollar volume were Berkadia, Walker & Dunlop, JP Morgan Chase & Company, CBRE, and Greystone.
The MBA report is the most comprehensive view available of the multifamily lending market and includes:
- A detailed summary of the $246.2 billion multifamily market,
- Profiles of distinct market segments, including the very-small loan (loans of $1 million or less) lender segment,
- A breakout of 2023 multifamily lending volume by investor group,
- A listing of 2,520 lenders who made multifamily loans in 2023, including their lending volume, number of loans made and average loan size, and
- A listing of metropolitan areas and the volume of very-small loans made in each in 2023.
