Industries

Rising demand and plummeting mortgage rates pushed multifamily origination dollar volume above 2017's record to a new peak, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Property values recovered, and in some cases even surpassed housing bubble peaks, but the same can't be said for waning new construction activity, which won't return to historic norms for years, according to Zillow.

While delinquent loans in commercial mortgage-backed securities continued trending downward overall, there was an uptick in the rate for more recent originations, a Standard & Poor's report noted.

Nonbank lenders Monroe Capital and MGG Investment Group have made a combined $115 million of loans to firms that make cannabidoil and supply products to the cannabis and hemp industries.

Blooma has developed a software product that combs databases to create property profiles for commercial real estate lenders. It can drastically cut origination costs and approval times and help banks identify safer loans, the company says.

The Delaware company, best known for issuing prepaid cards, has ramped up commercial real estate securitizations. The shift promises to deliver big fees, but it could also cause headaches if defaults spike.

The incentives are stronger than ever to work toward standardizing the documentation, language and process for loans in commercial mortgage-backed securities to be combined with PACE financing.

Life insurance companies increased their mortgage investments to levels higher than historical norms, creating more potential danger for their portfolios in the event of a real estate downturn, a Fitch Ratings report said.

While mortgage rate optimism kept consumer confidence about the home purchase market high in June, affordability worries pulled overall sentiment lower, a Fannie Mae survey said.

Because automated valuation models have not been subjected to a stressed housing market, their increased use holds negatives and positives for residential mortgage-backed securities credit quality, a Moody's report said.