The volume of apartment-secured loans that were originated last year moved up from the previous year and represented an all-time high.
During calendar-year 2014, commercial real estate lenders originated $195.1 billion in mortgages that were secured by multifamily properties.
Last year’s multifamily originations were generated by 2,876 different apartment lenders — of which nearly two-thirds made five or fewer loans.
The data was reported Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association based on a survey of larger lenders and Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data.
MBA Vice
President of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell noted in the report that 2014 represented a record for multifamily production.
Woodwell said that over a quarter of the loans were for $500,000 or less.
“The market has continued to expand this year and shows every sign of breaking last year’s record,” he added.
Financial institutions were responsible for 35 percent of last year’s multifamily originations.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. was the biggest apartment lender.
Wells Fargo followed, then CBRE Capital Markets Inc., Walker & Dunlop and PNC Real Estate.