The amount of commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding grew during the fourth quarter at the highest rate seen since 2007, surpassing the record high
Total commercial/multifamily debt outstanding rose by $48.9 billion from the quarter prior, or 1.9%, to $2.64 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2014, the MBA reported. Of that total, multifamily mortgage debt outstanding comprised $964 billion, up $23.7 billion from the third quarter.
Rising property values and low interest rates contributed to the growth seen, MBA vice president of commercial real estate research Jamie Woodwell said in a news release, adding that banks, the government-sponsored enterprises and life insurance companies increased their books of business by more than 2% quarter-to-quarter.
As in the third quarter, commercial banks possessed the largest share of commercial/multifamily mortgages, holding $967 billion or 37% of the total, the MBA found. Commercial mortgage-backed securities, collateralized debt obligations and other asset-backed securities again followed, with their share falling slightly to $533 billion, or 20% of the total. Agency and GSE portfolios and mortgage-backed securities held $412 billion, and life insurance companies had the smallest share with 14%, or $359 billion, of the total.
In terms of changes in commercial/multifamily mortgage debt, trends again kept in line with the third quarter as banks and thrifts saw the biggest increase on a dollar basis with a $23 billion, or 2.5%, rise from the prior quarter. Agency and GSE portfolios and MBS rose by $13 billion in the fourth quarter, but CMBS, CDO and other ABS issues fell by $3 billion.
The MBA bases its study of mortgage debt outstanding on data from the Federal Reserve Board's Financial Accounts of the U.S., the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s quarterly profile and Wells Fargo data.
