Commercial Mortgages Poised for Slight Decline

“Commercial and multifamily market activity has downshifted at the start of 2017,” says MBA’s Jamie Woodwell.

WASHINGTON, DC—Commercial and multifamily mortgage originations will be down 3% this year from 2016 levels, with a total of $478 billion by year’s end, the Mortgage Bankers Association said late last week. The revised forecast comes a few months after MBA predicted a 3% year-over-year increase in originations to $515 billion, up from an estimated $502 billion last year.

“Commercial and multifamily market activity has downshifted at the start of 2017,” says Jamie Woodwell, VP of commercial real estate research at MBA. “Markets continue to move forward, but the rapid increases in property values, transaction volumes and other fundamentals that characterized the post-recession period have given way to more regular changes tied to the economy as well as changes in supply and demand. For many parts of the market, the downshift is a positive development.”