According to the most recent Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Debt Outstanding quarterly report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the amount of outstanding commercial/multifamily mortgage debt rose by $53.4 billion—an estimated 1.1%—in Q3 of 2025.
At the end of Q3, the total amount of outstanding commercial and multifamily mortgage debt increased to $4.93 trillion. In comparison to the second quarter of 2025, multifamily mortgage debt alone grew by $40.3 billion (1.8%) to $2.24 trillion.
“Commercial and multifamily mortgage debt continued to grow during last year’s third quarter, driven by strong increases in multifamily lending,” said Reggie Booker, MBA’s AVP of Commercial Research. “While economic and market uncertainty persists, agency and GSE portfolios once again led the market, with banks and life insurance companies also posting solid gains. Total commercial real estate debt increased to $4.93 trillion in the third quarter, up 1.1% from the second quarter and up 4.0% from the third quarter of 2024. Multifamily debt grew to $2.24 trillion, up 1.8% from the second quarter and up 5.9% from the third quarter of 2024, and now accounts for 22.5% of total commercial debt.”
Banks and thrifts, federal agency and government sponsored enterprise (GSE) portfolios and mortgage-backed securities (MBS), life insurance companies, and commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), collateralized debt obligations (CDO), and other asset-backed securities (ABS) issues are the four main categories of investors.
With $1.8 trillion in commercial/multifamily mortgages, commercial banks continue to retain the largest stake (37%). At $1.11 trillion, agency and GSE portfolios and MBS are the second-largest holders of commercial/multifamily mortgages (23%). $783 billion (16%) is held by life insurance firms, whereas $642 billion (13%) is held by CMBS, CDO, and other ABS problems. CMBS, CDO, and other ABS issues are bought and held by numerous banks, GSEs, and life insurance companies. The report lists these loans under the heading “CMBS, CDO and other ABS.”
Examining Mortgage Debt, Changing Trends
When focusing only on multifamily mortgages in the third quarter of 2025, the largest share of outstanding multifamily debt is held by agency and GSE portfolios and MBS at $1.11 billion (50%), followed by banks and thrifts at $651 billion (29%), life insurance companies at $263 billion (12%), state and local government at $93 billion (4%), and CMBS, CDO, and other ABS issues at $70 billion (3%).
In terms of dollar gains in their holdings of commercial/multifamily mortgage debt, agency and GSE portfolios and MBS had the biggest increases in Q3, rising by $27.8 billion (2.6%). The Federal government raised its holdings by $1.2 billion (1.2%), life insurance firms by $12.1 billion (1.6%), and banks and thrifts by $13.8 billion (0.8%).
Commercial/multifamily mortgage holdings in agency, GSE, and MBS portfolios increased by the greatest proportion (2.6%). REIT holdings, on the other hand, witnessed a 2.5% decline.
Multifamily mortgage debt has increased by $40.3 billion since Q2 of 2025, or a 1.8% quarterly gain. In terms of money, the holdings of multifamily mortgage debt in agency, GSE, and MBS portfolios showed the biggest increase, totaling $27.8 billion (2.6%). Life insurance firms grew their holdings by $6.4 billion (2.5%), while banks and thrifts increased their holdings by $6.4 billion (1.0%).
Overall, the biggest percentage rise in multifamily mortgage debt held by nonfinancial corporate businesses was 7.3%. The biggest decrease in the amount of multifamily mortgage debt held by state and local government retirement funds was 1.9%.
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The post Agency, GSE Portfolios Lead Q3 Growth in Commercial Mortgage Debt first appeared on The MortgagePoint.
