Capital Firms Remain Bullish on Multifamily

The panelists said despite shorter hold times with lots of pre-pay facilities, 2018 is looking robust for multifamily loans.

SAN DIEGO—Strong fundamentals, coupled with a supply/demand imbalance and rising interest rates, paint a rosy picture of the apartment sector for lenders, speakers at the MBA CREF/Multifamily conference here told attendees Tuesday. The panel “Mortgage Banking & Multifamily Finance” tackled the changes that could impact multifamily finance and the role of the mortgage-banking industry.

Last year was a “great year” for the multifamily-finance experts on the panel, they reported. Michele Evans, SVP and multifamily COO of Fannie Mae, said the agency did $67 billion in business, including $6.8 billion in affordable housing, $5.5 billion in seniors housing and $27.6 billion in green products. The latter has really taken off, landlords and tenants noting impactful energy and water savings in green buildings. Small-balance loans accounted for $2.3 billion, student housing $2.8 billion and manufactured housing $1.9 billion for Fannie Mae last year, and Evans said she is “thrilled with 2017.”