Commercial Mortgage Debt Hits Record $5.1 Trillion, MBA Data Show

U.S. commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding rose $42.9 billion, or 0.9%, in the second quarter of 2026 to a record $5.1 trillion, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in its quarterly report, published in its NewsLink on Sept. 30. Securitized holdings grew the most.

"Growth was broad-based across the major capital sources," said Reggie Booker, MBA's associate vice president of commercial research, pointing to increases at banks and thrifts, agency and GSE portfolios and MBS, and CMBS, CDO and other ABS.

Who holds U.S. commercial mortgage debt?

Banks remain the largest holders by far. The MBA's figures for the end of the second quarter:

Holder	Commercial/multifamily debt	Share	Q2 change
Commercial banks and thrifts	$1.9 trillion	38%	+$13.3 billion (0.7%)
Agency and GSE portfolios and MBS	$1.2 trillion	23%	+$12.7 billion (1.1%)
Life insurance companies	$782 billion	15%	not stated
CMBS, CDO and other ABS issues	$651 billion	13%	+$13.9 billion (2.2%)

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association.

CMBS, CDO and other ABS issues had the largest gain in both dollar and percentage terms, the MBA said. REITs moved the other way, cutting their holdings by $5.5 billion.

The MBA counts loans by who holds the note. A whole loan kept by a life insurer shows up under life companies, but a loan placed in a securitization shows up under CMBS, CDO and other ABS, even if a life company or bank owns the bonds.

Multifamily debt reached $2.3 trillion

Multifamily mortgage debt rose $20.7 billion, or 0.9%, to $2.3 trillion. Agency and GSE portfolios and MBS hold half of it, $1.2 trillion. Banks and thrifts hold $668 billion (29%), life companies $269 billion (12%), state and local governments $99 billion (4%) and CMBS, CDO and other ABS $75 billion (3%).

Agency and GSE holdings of multifamily debt grew the most in dollars, by $12.7 billion. REITs posted the largest percentage increase in multifamily holdings, 7.5%, while finance companies had the largest decline, 1.2%, the MBA said.

Are commercial mortgage delinquencies rising?

It depends on the lender group. In a separate report dated Sept. 29, the MBA said second-quarter delinquency rates were mixed: CMBS improved while Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and life company loans rose modestly.

Capital source (measure)	Q2 2026 rate	Change from Q1
Banks and thrifts (90+ days or non-accrual)	1.2%	-0.04 pt
Life companies (60+ days)	0.48%	+0.10 pt
Fannie Mae (60+ days)	0.6%	+0.18 pt
Freddie Mac (60+ days)	0.51%	+0.08 pt
CMBS (30+ days or REO)	6.53%	-0.42 pt

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association. Each group measures delinquency differently, so the rates are not directly comparable.

Booker said multifamily faces "a tough combination of higher interest rates and challenging market fundamentals," with some owners refinancing successfully "while others are struggling to find financing."

The MBA's CMBS figure covers the end of June. Trepp's monthly data, which uses a different method, put CMBS delinquency at 8.02% in September, as we reported in our coverage of the September CMBS delinquency rate.

What does this mean for private lenders?

The data show banks still hold the largest share of commercial mortgage debt, while securitized holdings grew fastest in the quarter. The MBA release does not name debt funds among the holder groups it reports; CBRE's closing data, covered in our report on debt funds leading non-agency CRE lending, tracks their share of new loans. Current benchmark rates are on our rates and data page, and more coverage is in the Private Credit section.