The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations shows that originations of commercial and multifamily mortgage loans increased by an estimated 52% in Q1 of 2026 compared to the same period last year and fell by 30% from Q4 of 2025.
“Commercial and multifamily originations increased 52% on an annual basis in the first quarter of 2026, reflecting a meaningful rebound in lending activity,” said Reggie Booker, MBA’s AVP of Commercial Research. “The most notable increase was the 80 percent rise in depository lending, driven in part by the large volume of bank-held loans maturing this year and the need to refinance those positions. While overall activity declined from the fourth quarter of 2025, that slowdown is consistent with typical first-quarter seasonality and does not detract from the broader improvement in market conditions.”
Commercial/multifamily loan volumes increased overall compared to the previous year due to an increase in originations for healthcare, retail, hotel, and industrial buildings. The dollar volume of loans for health care assets increased by 209% year-over-year, retail properties by 148%, hotel properties by 85%, industrial properties by 56%, and multifamily properties by 49%. Originations of office property loans fell by 2% from Q4 of 2025.
Investor-driven lenders saw a 133% year-over-year rise in the dollar amount of loans they originated. Depository loans increased by 80%, government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) loans (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) increased by 38%, life company loans increased by 9%, and commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) loans decreased by 14%.
In comparison to Q4 of 2025, originations for multifamily properties fell by 28% on a quarterly basis. Originations for office properties decreased by 28%, for industrial properties by 28%, and for retail properties by roughly 5%. In comparison to Q4 of 2025, originations for hotel properties rose by 3% and originations for health care properties by 70%.
The dollar volume of loans for depositories fell by 37%, loans for life insurance companies by 36%, originations for GSEs by 35%, loans for CMBS by 23%, and loans for investor-driven lenders by 18% between the first quarter of 2026 and Q4 of 2025.
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