Commercial lending up 32% in third quarter

Commercial and multi-family mortgage lending rose 32 percent during the third quarter as historically low interest rates continued to attract more borrowers to the market than last year at this time, according to a new report from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Multi-family and industrial properties led the year-over-year uptick, with loan originations up 37 percent for the former property type and 129 percent for the latter. Office properties saw a 36 percent lending increase from last year at this time, while retail properties saw a 19 percent increase.

Hotels and medical buildings didn’t fare as well, both registering significant year-over-year declines in lending.

Overall, loan originations were also up 15 percent from the second quarter, with life insurance companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac among the strongest performers and commercial banks posting declines. Origination volume for CMBS, while still quite low, rose 43 percent from the second quarter. TRD