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Commercial, Multifamily Mortgage Debt Drops Slightly

Commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding totals $2.37 trillion as of the end of the first quarter, according to recent data from the ""Mortgage Bankers Association"":http://www.mbaa.org/default.htm (MBA).

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This is down 0.4 percent or $10.4 billion from the first quarter. However, while commercial and multifamily debt decreased, multifamily debt alone increased by $5.4 billion.

""CMBS loans paid-off, paid-down and were liquidated at a far faster pace than new CMBS loans were originated during the quarter,"" said ""Jamie Woodwell"":http://www.mortgagebankers.org/Jamiewoodwellbio.htm, VP of commercial real estate research at MBA.

Multifamily debt outstanding now totals $826 billion after sustaining a 0.7 percent increase over the second quarter. While multifamily debt grew among several categories of debt holders, the largest growth was seen among GSEs, agencies, and mortgage-backed securities (MBS). This group increased its holdings by $7.1 billion.

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Commercial banks and life insurance companies also increased their multifamily mortgage debt holdings over the second quarter of this year, by $3.6 billion and $576 million, respectively.

At the same time, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), and other asset-backed securities (ABS) reduced their multifamily debt by $4.8 billion.

Among multifamily debt, the largest share is currently held by government agencies, including Fannie and Freddie, and mortgage-backed securities. Together, they hold 44 percent ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô $360 billion ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô in multifamily mortgage debt.

The second-largest category of multifamily mortgage debt holders is banks and thrifts, which account for 27 percent of the total.

Another 10 percent is held by commercial mortgage-backed securities, collateralized debt obligations, and other asset-backed securities.

When looking at commercial and multifamily debt combined, the MBA reports commercial banks hold 34 percent, the largest share of any one category. That's $815 billion of the total $2.37 trillion.

CMBS, CDO, and ABS decreased their amount of commercial and multifamily debt by $19.8 billion, the greatest amount of any category of commercial and multifamily debt holders over the second quarter.

Finance companies and GSEs, agencies, and MBS also shed commercial/multifamily debt over the quarter. The amount of debt held by finance companies dripped $5.1 billion, while agencies, GSEs and MBS shed $7.1 billion in debt.