Multifamily lending continues to reach all-new highs, and some lenders rose above the rest, dominating the market in 2018.
The most recent data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed that commercial and multifamily lending hit an all-time high in 2017, and the MBA’s latest forecast suggested that 2018 would likely be another record year for commercial and multifamily mortgage lending.
In fact, a new survey from the MBA shows that commercial and multifamily mortgage originators expect lending to continue setting records in 2019.
But for now, Freddie Mac announced the top multifamily lenders that transacted the most financing volume with the company in 2018. The GSE led the industry in multifamily volume with $78 billion in total production in 2018.
“Our lenders are working every day to meet the challenges of the market, and together we are achieving great things for borrowers,” said John Cannon, Freddie Mac senior vice president of multifamily production and sales. “We congratulate all of our multifamily lenders and look forward to our continued collaboration in 2019.”
Here are the top 10 lenders that financed through Freddie Mac in 2018 and their lending volume:
10. Greystone – $2.61 billion
9. Jones Lang LaSalle – $2.61 billion
8. Capital One – $3.55 billion
7. Newmark Knight Frank – $3.66 billion
6. Wells Fargo – $4.86 billion
5. KeyBank – $6.01 billion
4. Walker & Dunlop – $7.11 billion
3. HFF – $7.2 billion
2. Berkadia – $9.86 billion
1. CBRE – $13.69 billion
CBRE made Freddie Mac’s list as the top multifamily lender for 2018, so where does it plan to focus its efforts in 2019?
According to CBRE, workforce housing, rental communities that are affordable for low- to median-income workers, has actually outperformed the overall multifamily market in each of the last four years, thanks to relatively low vacancy rates and above-average rent growth. It explained that workforce housing represents a large opportunity for investors.
However this list represents only loans that went through Freddie Mac. Back in October, the MBA released its list of top multifamily lenders for the year before, 2017, which showed CBRE came in second. The top multifamily lender on the MBA’s list was – you guessed it – Wells Fargo.
Full data is expected to be released later this year that will show if CBRE managed to pass up Wells Fargo in total origination volume in 2018, or if it will remain in second place.
