Domestic private-label commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) issuance during 2025 totaled $125.6 billion, a nearly 21% year-over-year upswing. According to data from Trepp Inc., this marked the sector’s most active year since the 2008 financial crisis.
Last year’s activity was primarily fueled by single-asset, single-borrower (SASB) transactions, which accounted for $91.3 billion or nearly 75% of total issuance, excluding collateralized loan obligations. Over the prior 10 years, SASB deals have accounted for slightly more than half of annual issuance.
“The average size of a SASB deal in 2025 was $718.9 million,” said Orest Mandzy, managing editor of Trepp’s CRE Direct. “But the largest deal was the $3.45 billion BX Commercial Mortgage Trust, 2025-VOLT, which allowed Blackstone affiliate QualityTech LP to finance nine data centers with 214.9 megawatts of capacity in six states. A total of 26 SASB deals had starting balances of $1 billion or more. Those averaged $1.66 billion.”
Looking ahead, Mandzy predicted a continued increase in CMBS issuance.
“The stars seem to be aligned for greater volume, with most industry observers calling for an increase in issuance of about 20%, perhaps reaching $150 billion or so,” he continued. “While banks are once again lending against commercial properties, data show the increase in their activity has been muted so far. Still, as one executive with a large institutional investor said: ‘You can finance nearly anything today.’ That greater liquidity has translated to an increase in property transaction activity, which should drive additional lending.”
