“Commercial and multifamily mortgage originations picked up in the fourth quarter, but remain at a low level in absolute terms,” said Jamie Woodwell, Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research at the MBA.  ”The trend shows stability coming back to the market, but the pick-up in volumes really indicates just how low origination levels had fallen.”
 
FOURTH QUARTER 2009 12 PERCENT HIGHER THAN FOURTH QUARTER 2008

The 12 percent overall increase in commercial/multifamily lending activity during the fourth quarter was driven by increases in originations for all property types except multifamily.  When compared to the fourth quarter of 2008, the increase included a 105 percent increase in loans for hotel properties, a 101 percent increase in loans for retail properties, a 59 percent increase in loans for industrial properties, a four percent increase in loans for office properties, a one percent increase in health care property loans, and an eight percent decrease in multifamily property loans.

Among investor types, loans for life insurance companies saw an increase of 112 percent compared to last year’s fourth quarter.  There was also a 17 percent increase in loans for commercial bank portfolios, an 82 percent decrease in loans for conduits for CMBS, and the dollar volume of loans for Government Sponsored Enterprises (or GSEs – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) saw a decrease of 26 percent. 

FOURTH QUARTER 2009 15 PERCENT HIGHER THAN THIRD QUARTER 2009

Fourth quarter 2009 mortgage originations were 15 percent higher than originations in the third quarter 2009.  Among investor types, loans for commercial bank portfolios saw an increase in loan volume of 39 percent compared to the third quarter 2009, loans for life insurance companies saw an increase in loan volume of 35 percent compared to the third quarter 2009, conduits for CMBS decreased by 50 percent during the same time span, and originations for GSEs decreased 15 percent from the third quarter to the fourth quarter 2009. 
 
Compared to the third quarter of 2009, fourth quarter originations for health care properties saw a 58 percent increase. There was a 34 percent increase for retail properties, a 30 percent increase for hotel properties, a 19 percent increase for industrial properties, a four percent increase for multifamily properties, and a 12 percent decrease for office properties.
 
To view the report, please click here.

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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is the national association representing the real estate finance industry, an industry that employs more than 280,000 people in virtually every community in the country. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the association works to ensure the continued strength of the nation's residential and commercial real estate markets; to expand homeownership and extend access to affordable housing to all Americans. MBA promotes fair and ethical lending practices and fosters professional excellence among real estate finance employees through a wide range of educational programs and a variety of publications. Its membership of over 2,200 companies includes all elements of real estate finance: mortgage companies, mortgage brokers, commercial banks, thrifts, Wall Street conduits, life insurance companies and others in the mortgage lending field. For additional information, visit MBA's Web site:  www.mortgagebankers.org.