Press Release

MBA Study: Originations of Commercial and Multifamily Mortgages Increased in Fourth Quarter 2009

Fourth quarter 2009 commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations were 12 percent higher than during the same period last year and 15 percent higher than during the third quarter of 2009, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations.

'Commercial and multifamily mortgage originations picked up in the fourth quarter, but remain at a low level in absolute terms,' said Jamie Woodwell, Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research at the MBA. 'The trend shows stability coming back to the market, but the pick-up in volumes really indicates just how low origination levels had fallen.'

FOURTH QUARTER 2009 12 PERCENT HIGHER THAN FOURTH QUARTER 2008

The 12 percent overall increase in commercial/multifamily lending activity during the fourth quarter was driven by increases in originations for all property types except multifamily. When compared to the fourth quarter of 2008, the increase included a 105 percent increase in loans for hotel properties, a 101 percent increase in loans for retail properties, a 59 percent increase in loans for industrial properties, a four percent increase in loans for office properties, a one percent increase in health care property loans, and an eight percent decrease in multifamily property loans.

Among investor types, loans for life insurance companies saw an increase of 112 percent compared to last year's fourth quarter. There was also a 17 percent increase in loans for commercial bank portfolios, an 82 percent decrease in loans for conduits for CMBS, and the dollar volume of loans for Government Sponsored Enterprises (or GSEs - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) saw a decrease of 26 percent.

FOURTH QUARTER 2009 15 PERCENT HIGHER THAN THIRD QUARTER 2009

Fourth quarter 2009 mortgage originations were 15 percent higher than originations in the third quarter 2009. Among investor types, loans for commercial bank portfolios saw an increase in loan volume of 39 percent compared to the third quarter 2009, loans for life insurance companies saw an increase in loan volume of 35 percent compared to the third quarter 2009, conduits for CMBS decreased by 50 percent during the same time span, and originations for GSEs decreased 15 percent from the third quarter to the fourth quarter 2009.

Compared to the third quarter of 2009, fourth quarter originations for health care properties saw a 58 percent increase. There was a 34 percent increase for retail properties, a 30 percent increase for hotel properties, a 19 percent increase for industrial properties, a four percent increase for multifamily properties, and a 12 percent decrease for office properties.