Commercial Mortgage Originations Rise Again in Q-3

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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations, third quarter 2010 commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations were 32 percent higher than during the same period last year and 15 percent higher than during the second quarter.

"Commercial and multifamily mortgage lending continued to pick up during the third quarter," said Jamie Woodwell, MBA's Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research.  "Today's low interest rates make for a very attractive borrowing environment. However relatively low levels of loan maturities and a slow, albeit rising, sales market continued to dampen overall commercial mortgage demand."

Origination volumes for life companies and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were relatively strong during the third quarter; originations for CMBS remained very low in absolute terms but picked up considerably on a percentage basis; and commercial mortgage borrowing at commercial banks fell on both a quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year basis.

THIRD QUARTER 2010 THIRTY-TWO PERCENT HIGHER THAN THIRD QUARTER 2009

The 32 percent overall increase in commercial/multifamily lending activity during the third quarter was driven by increases in originations for multifamily and industrial properties.  When compared to the third quarter of 2009, the increase included a 129 percent increase in loans for industrial properties, a 37 percent increase in loans for multifamily properties, a 36 percent increase in loans for office properties, a 19 percent increase in loans for retail properties, a 20 percent decrease in hotel property loans, and a 46 percent decrease in health care property loans.

Among investor types, loans for conduits for CMBS saw an increase of 940 percent compared to last year's third quarter.  There was also a 154 percent increase in loans for life insurance companies, a 16 percent decrease for Government Sponsored Enterprises (or GSEs - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), and loans for commercial bank portfolios saw a decrease of 49 percent.

THIRD QUARTER 2010 FIFTEEN PERCENT HIGHER THAN SECOND QUARTER 2010

Third quarter 2010 mortgage originations were 15 percent higher than originations in the second quarter of 2010.  Among investor types, loans for conduits for CMBS saw an increase in loan volume of 43 percent compared to the second quarter, originations for the GSEs increased 42 percent from the second quarter to the third quarter of 2010, loans for life insurance companies saw an increase in loan volume of 20 percent, and loans for commercial bank portfolios decreased by 27 percent during the same time span.

Compared to the second quarter, third quarter originations for health care properties saw an 84 percent increase. There was a 50 percent increase for multifamily properties, an 18 percent increase for industrial properties, a 12 percent increase for retail properties, an 18 percent decrease for office properties, and a 54 percent decrease for hotel properties.

 

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