Investment & Lending Activity Rise

Executive Summary

• Commercial real estate investment volume increased by 14% year-over-year in Q1 to $88 billion.
• The CBRE Lending Momentum Index increased by 13% quarter-over-quarter and 90% year-over-year in Q1, buoyed by increased financing amounts.
• Private investors were the biggest buyers, accounting for $51 billion of Q1 investment volume, followed by institutional investors with $20 billion. 
• Inbound cross-border investment increased by 7% year-over-year in Q1 to $4 billion, led by the industrial sector. 
• Banks were the biggest non-agency lenders, accounting for 34% of Q1 loan closings, followed by CMBS (26%) and life companies (21%).
• Commercial and multifamily spreads tightened by 29 and 26 basis points (bps), respectively, from a year ago. This is based on loans with a permanent, fixed-rate, seven-to-10-year term and a 55-to-65% loan-to-value (LTV) ratio.