Multifamily lending was up 8 percent year over year in 2016, with nearly three thousand different multifamily lenders providing a total of $269.2 billion in new mortgages for apartment buildings with five or more units, according to a new report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

"Last year was another record year for multifamily mortgage lending," said Jamie Woodwell, MBA's Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research. "In 2016, strong property performance, rising property values and low mortgage rates all meant greater access to mortgage credit for apartment property owners. The $269 billion in lending that took place shows the breadth of the market - with loans ranging in size from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of millions, and the largest lender closing more than 7,500 loans while 61 percent of active lenders closed five or fewer loans. Market momentum has continued in 2017, with strong demand from borrowers and a strong appetite to lend by lenders, especially of loans going to government-related entities."

The MBA report is based on its surveys of the larger multifamily lenders and the recently released Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data that covers multifamily loans made by many smaller lenders, particularly commercial banks. There were a total of 2,822 active lenders in 2016.

The $269.2 billion of multifamily mortgages originated in 2016 went to a variety of investors. By dollar volume, the greatest share (39 percent of the total) went to the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The top five multifamily lenders in 2016 by dollar volume were Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase and Company, CBRE Capital Markets, Inc., Berkadia, and Walker & Dunlop.

The MBA report is the most comprehensive view available of the multifamily lending market and includes:

• A detailed summary of the $269.2 billion multifamily market,
  
  
• Profiles of distinct market segments, including the very-small loan (loans of $1 million or less) lender segment,
  
  
• A breakout of 2016 multifamily lending volume by investor group,
  
  
• A listing of 2,822 lenders who made multifamily loans in 2016, including their lending volume, number of loans made and average loan size, and
  
  
• A listing of metropolitan areas and the volume of very-small loans made in each in 2016.

The report is based on data from the MBA 2016 Commercial/Multifamily Annual Origination Volume Summation and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The MBA survey targets dedicated commercial/multifamily originators and covered $491 billion in commercial/multifamily loans in 2016. The HMDA data adds multifamily loans from banks, thrifts and other institutions that meet certain single-family origination thresholds. When combined, the two datasets provide the most comprehensive assessment of the multifamily lending market available.