While most investors are having trouble getting loans to fund their projects, the multifamily housing sector is thriving. Loan activity in this sector has jumped 52 percent in the second quarter of 2011 and 107 percent over the same time last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)[1]. Although the 107 percent jump was “fueled by origination activity for all property types,” there was a 114 percent increase in loans for multifamily properties. Also of note: 141 percent increase in loans for healthcare properties, 125% increase in loans for hotel properties and 116 percent increase in loans for retail properties. Jamie Woodall, vice president of commercial real estate research at MBA, believes that these numbers indicate a recovery in commercial/multifamily borrowing and lending, which “continue to rise from the depths of 2009 and 2010,” he says.
Do you think that these numbers indicate opportunity in the multifamily sector, or would you focus your commercial investing dollars elsewhere right now?
Thank you for reading the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter!
Your comments and questions are welcomed below.
[1] http://www.mortgageorb.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.9331
With commercial loan activity on a rise, it boggles my mind as to why more mortgage brokers don’t seek to offer commercial loans. They can be very lucrative and do not come with the emotion that residential loans carry.