Multifamily mortgage debt continued to grow at a faster pace than the full commercial real estate market for the tenth consecutive quarter.
New data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) found the total mortgage debt outstanding for the full commercial real estate sector in the fourth quarter of 2024 rose by 1.1% to $4.79 billion from the previous quarter while multifamily mortgage debut alone grew by 1.8% to $2.16 trillion – a $38.9 billion rise in multifamily mortgage debt outstanding (MDO).
In dollar terms, agency and government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) portfolios and mortgage-backed securities saw the largest increase, at $31.2 billion (3%), in their holdings of multifamily mortgage debt. Life insurance companies upped their holdings of multifamily mortgage debt by $10.2 billion (4.2%), and CMBS, CDO and other ABS issues increased their holdings by $282 million (0.4%). State and local government saw a 1.7% drop in their holdings, by $1.6 billion.
In percentage terms, life insurance companies recorded the largest increase in holdings of multifamily mortgages (4.2%) and private pension funds saw the biggest decrease (10.9%).
Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s senior vice president and chief economist, observed, “Almost 56% of the growth in multifamily MDO reflected growth in Agency and GSE portfolios and mortgage-backed securities.”
