Commercial and multifamily originators closed $504 billion in loans last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The MBA's Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Annual Origination Volume Summation for 2015 found that commercial bank portfolios were the leading capital source, responsible for $138.6 billion of the total.
Commercial mortgage-backed securities saw the second highest volume, at $99.4 billion, followed by life insurance companies and pension funds.
Among property types, multifamily properties saw the highest origination volume, at $201.7 billion, followed by office buildings, retail properties, hotel and motel, industrial and health care. First liens accounted for 97% of total dollar volume closed.
The dollar volume of commercial and multifamily mortgages closed 26% higher in 2015 than the volume reported for the previous year. Among repeat participants in the survey, the dollar volume of closed loans rose by 17%.
"Commercial real estate borrowing and lending in 2015 came within a whisker of the record high level of 2007," said Jamie Woodwell, MBA's vice president of commercial real estate research.
"The volume was driven by improving property fundamentals, strong property values and very low interest rates. Despite some credit market disruptions to start off this year and regulatory and other hurdles still ahead, many of those positive factors remain in place."
