The Mortgage Bankers Association predicts that multifamily loan originations will decrease 2% over the course of 2018.
"Last year was a record for commercial and multifamily borrowing and lending," MBA Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell said in a statement.
"Lending terms remain extremely attractive, and we expect another strong year in 2018, although perhaps not quite as strong as 2017."
In its Commercial/Multifamily Real Estate Finance Forecast, MBA indicated that mortgage banker originations will slip from 2017’s $530 billion to $519 billion by the end of 2018. According to the association, 2019 will continue on the downward path, inching another $6 billion lower to $513 billion, an additional 1% decrease year-over-year.
Also included in the report is a projected jump in construction starts from 357,000 units in 2017 to 400,000 units in 2018. This is contrary to the what some other researchers have said. JLL Research and CBRE Research indicate slowing deliveries as developers ease off the development game and turn to acquisitions/dispositions in the multifamily sector. According to the MBA's forecast, 2019 starts will dip by 10,000 units, ending up at 390,000 units started in 2019.
