Low Interest Rates Help Raise Commercial Loan Origination Stats

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations contains good news for office building and shopping center owners: Third quarter 2010 commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations rose 32 percent compared to the same period last year.

Lending activity was driven by increases in originations for multifamily and industrial properties: namely, a 129 percent increase in loans for industrial properties, a 36 percent increase in loans for office assets, and a 19 percent increase in loans for retail properties. The low-interest-rate environment was a factor, said Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s vice president of commercial real estate research, in the report.

Not all sectors experienced gains, though: There was a 20 percent decrease in hotel property loans and a 46 percent decrease in healthcare property loans.