Over 2,500 different multifamily lenders provided a total of $246.2 billion in new mortgages for apartment buildings with five or more units in 2023, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
The MBA released its annual report of the multifamily lending market, finding last year’s volume represented a 49% decrease from 2022. Just over half of the active lenders, 51%, made five or fewer multifamily loans in 2023. The report is based on the MBA’s surveys of the larger multifamily lenders and the recently released Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data that covers smaller lenders.
“Multifamily lending fell by roughly half in 2023 as sales transactions declined and far fewer property owners sought to refinance their loans,” said Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s head of commercial real estate research. “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.”
By dollar volume, the greatest share of multifamily mortgages, 42%, went to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In addition, the top five multifamily lenders last year by dollar volume included Berkadia, Walker & Dunlop, JPMorgan Chase, CBRE, and Greystone.
