Mortgage Debt Continues Its Long-Running Upward Trajectory

Despite a significant fall-off in acquisition financing in the last two quarters, loan refinancings, particularly for FHA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and bank balance sheets, helped lift total mortgage balances for the third quarter, according to Jamie Woodwell, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Vice President for Commercial Real Estate Research.

Woodwell also noted that continued uncertainty about the pandemic’s long-term impacts is likely to weigh on new financing in the coming quarters. However, the headline news of MBA’s latest report is that the amount of mortgage debt backed by commercial and multifamily properties increased for the 33rd straight quarter.