NEW YORK—One segment of the housing market appears to be quite robust, according to one new analysis.
While residential originations declined by 20% during the third quarter, National Mortgage News, an affiliate of Credit Union Journal, and the Quarterly Data Report said that multifamily production has risen 80%. The publications acknowledged the data is incomplete to some degree, as some firms declined to disclose production figures in the multifamily category.
“Still, some of the firms that participated in NMN's survey had stellar results. CitiMortgage, for instance, originated $523 million in multifamily mortgages, a 69% jump from 3Q 2010,” National Mortgage News said. “Other standouts include Flushing Savings Bank, Lake Success, N.Y., which saw production rise 58%, and Bank Mutual Corp., Milwaukee, Wis., which experienced a 67% rise in multifamily.
It added, “The boom in production does not come as a total surprise. Over the past three years, the nation's foreclosure crisis has turned millions of former homeowners into renters. This in turn has fed a strong rental market, one that has caused multifamily housing starts to rise dramatically.”
