The Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual report of the multifamily lending market revealed 2,140 different multifamily lenders provided $359.7 billion in new mortgages for apartment buildings with five or more units in 2020, a 1 percent decrease in lending volume from 2019’s record level of $364.4 billion.
“Multifamily borrowing and lending remained strong in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic,” Jamie Woodwell, MBA vice president of commercial real estate research, said in a release.
“Robust financing for properties, increased refinancing activity through government-backed loans, and consistent mortgage availability from banks led the market to a level of mortgage originations that was essentially flat from the record year of 2019,” he added.
Of the active lenders surveyed in this report, 35 percent made five or fewer multifamily loans over the course of the year. The top five lenders by dollar volume were Walker & Dunlop, Berkadia, CBRE, Wells Fargo, and Greystone. By dollar volume, the greatest share went to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (46 percent of the total).