Sluggish acquisitions market puts brakes on commercial real estate lending activity in Q3 2020

While sluggish commercial real estate investment activity has caused loan closings to slow in the third quarter 2020, a rise in loan applications in recent weeks is a promising sign for higher year-end closings, according to CBRE.

The CBRE Lending Momentum Index, which tracks the pace of commercial loan closings in the United States,  fell to a value of 160 in September, down 17.6 percent from June. As of September 2020, the index was down 39.4 percent from a year ago.

“Stabilized multifamily continues to receive strong support from the agencies, while banks and life companies continue to underwrite lower leverage multifamily, industrial and selective office transactions. Retail and hotel properties, as well as those properties with tran