The Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Debt Outstanding quarterly report found that the level of debt outstanding at the end of 2023 was $130 billion—up 2.8 percent compared to Q4 of 2022.
Multifamily mortgage debt grew by $25 billion to $2.09 trillion during the fourth quarter, an increase of 1.2 percent. For 2023 as a whole, multifamily debt was up 4.4 percent.
“The amount of commercial mortgage debt outstanding grew in the final quarter of 2023 and for the year as a whole,” said Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s Head of Commercial Real Estate Research. “However, the increase was among the slowest paces since the mid-2010s. Every major capital source increased its mortgage holdings during the year. Mortgage originations were down by roughly 50 percent in 2023 compared to 2022, but that meant that few loans were paying off, helping maintain portfolio sizes even in the face of lower inflows.”
MBA’s report found that total mortgage debt outstanding rose by 0.9 percent to $4.69 trillion in fourth-quarter 2023. Commercial banks continue to hold the largest share—38 percent—of commercial/multifamily mortgages at $1.8 trillion.