Mortgage bankers that originate commercial real estate loans pushed up quarterly loan volume by more than a third. Life insurers led the gain, while hotel loan production was up more than any other property type.
Commercial mortgage originators generated 36 percent more in CRE production during the second quarter than in the first three months of this year.
Compared to the same three-month period last year, the most-recent commercial mortgage production amounted to 7 percent more.
The findings were reported Tuesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Using previously reported data from the Washington, D.C.-based trade group, total CRE originations were an estimated $69.0 billion in the second quarter, increasing from an estimated $50.8 billion the prior period.
An estimated $64.9 billion was closed in the second-quarter 2012.
CRE production at life insurance companies doubled compared to the first-quarter 2013 — the biggest gain of any type of commercial mortgage lender. Life insurers boosted business by 16 percent on a year-over-year basis.
A 27 percent increase from the first quarter for commercial mortgage-backed securities and conduits was the next-best quarterly improvement. But this category was down by 14 percent from the year-earlier quarter — the worst-performing category.
Commercial banks improved 14 percent from the first quarter and 13 percent from the second quarter of last year.
With just a 2 percent increase from the previous quarter, multifamily lending at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was the smallest increase. Fannie and Freddie’s CRE originations were 8 percent higher than the same period in 2012.
Hotel loan production soared 89 percent from the first quarter, more than any other property type. Hotel activity was up 3 percent from a year prior.
Office property loan originations rose 75 percent but were the same as in the second-quarter 2012.
A 48 percent quarter-over-quarter gain in the origination of mortgages secured by retail properties was next. Retail business was off 14 percent from the year-earlier period.
Loan originations for industrial properties jumped 44 percent from the first quarter but didn’t move from the same three months in 2012.
Multifamily originations were up 22 percent from three months earlier and 31 percent from a year earlier.
Financing for health care properties was flat when compared to the prior period and down 36 percent from the same quarter in the prior year — the worst year-over-year performance of any property type.
