Lending for multifamily housing dropped 49 percent in 2023

Last year, lending for multifamily properties declined 49 percent from the previous year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) annual report of the multifamily lending market.

Specifically, in 2023, 2,520 different multifamily lenders provided a total of $246.2 billion in new mortgages for apartment buildings with five or more units, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) annual report of the multifamily lending market. That’s down some 49 percent from 2022 levels. Further, 51 percent of the active lenders made five or fewer multifamily loans over the course of the year.

“Multifamily lending fell by roughly half in 2023 as sales transactions declined and far fewer property owners sought to refinance their loans,” Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s head of commercial real estate research, said. “The analysis shows that even with the drop in activity, the multifamily lending market remains broad and deep, with more than 2,500 different lenders making more than 36,000 mortgage loans backed by multifamily properties in amounts ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of millions.”

The $246.2 billion of multifamily mortgages originated last year went to a variety of investors, with the greatest share, 42 percent, going to Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The top five multifamily lenders in 2023 by dollar volume were Berkadia, Walker & Dunlop, JP Morgan Chase & Company, CBRE, and Greystone.

The MBA report is based on its surveys of the larger multifamily lenders and the recently released Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data that covers multifamily loans made by many smaller lenders, particularly commercial banks.

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