Total commercial real estate (CRE) mortgage borrowing and lending increased 16% year over year to $498 billion in 2024, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). However, last year’s total was still 39% lower than 2022’s $816 billion.
For 2024, the MBA survey tracked $411 billion of loans closed by dedicated mortgage bankers, up 34% from the $306 billion reported for the prior year. The rest of the $498 billion estimate is from other data sources reporting activity from smaller and mid-sized depositories.
Among the property types, multifamily had the highest volume in 2024, with an estimated $326 billion of total lending and $219 billion tracked by dedicated mortgage bankers. According to the MBA, first liens accounted for 92% of the mortgage bankers’ volume closed.
“Commercial real estate lending rebounded to $498 billion in 2024, up 16% from the prior year and driven largely by multifamily activity and continued strength from dedicated mortgage banking firms, which closed $411 billion in loans,” said Reggie Booker, assistant vice president of commercial real estate research. “While still below 2021’s record originations activity, the market showed renewed momentum. With an estimated $957 billion in CRE mortgage maturities coming due this year, demand for financing and new capital will be key drivers of market activity.”
Depositories were the leading capital source for CRE mortgage debt last year, followed by life insurance companies and pension funds, private-label commercial mortgage-backed securities, government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and investor-driven lenders.
