First-Quarter Commercial/Multifamily Originations Up 9% Yearly

First-quarter commercial and multifamily loan originations decreased 36 percent quarter-over-quarter but climbed 9 percent over the same period last year, the ""Mortgage Bankers Association"":http://mbaa.org/ (MBA) reported Tuesday.

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According to MBA, the overall increase in commercial/multifamily lending volume was driven largely by increases in originations for hotel and multifamily properties, which rose 35 percent and 30 percent, respectively.

Among other property types, lending volume rose 2 percent for industrial properties while falling 25 percent for retail properties, 15 percent for health care loans, and 6 percent for office properties, MBA revealed.

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Jamie Woodwell, VP of commercial real estate (CRE) research for the group, also added, ""The overall number masks larger increases in the dollar volume of loans originated for commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and a decline in the amount originated for life insurance company portfolios.""

The dollar volume of loans originated for conduits for CMBS increased by 170 percent from last year's first quarter, MBA reported. Meanwhile, there was a 36 percent increase for GSE loans, an 8 percent increase for commercial bank portfolio loans, and a 21 percent decrease in dollar volume of loans originated for life insurance companies.

On a quarterly basis, originations declined 69 percent in the first quarter for hotel properties, 65 percent for industrial properties, 45 percent for both office and health care properties, 32 percent for multifamily properties, and 17 percent for retail properties.

Among investor types, dollar volume of loans for GSEs dropped 40 percent. Volume also decreased 38 percent among loans for conduits for CMBS, 31 percent among loans originated for life insurance company portfolios, and 29 percent among loans for commercial bank portfolios.