U.S. CMBS issuance soared 33% in the first quarter of 2015 compared with the same period in 2014, according to Commercial Mortgage Alert. Volume totaled $27 billion for the January-March quarter, up from $20.4 billion a year earlier. Volume would have been higher, but a number of CMBS transactions slipped into the second quarter.
Single-borrower deals accounted for an unusually large proportion of first-quarter issuance at 46.0% versus 26.7% in full-year 2014. That in part reflected the fact that conduit deals weren’t big enough to absorb some giant mortgages. The share of conduit deals slipped to 48.8% from 61.2%. And overall conduit issuance declined to $13.2 billion from $14.8 billion in last year’s first quarter.
“Some originators see brisk originations through May, then some softening; however, our origination pace at ValueXpress continues to exceed last year’s pace by a wide margin,” commented Michael D. Sneden, Executive Vice President at ValueXpress. “It looks like the first half of 2015 should total about $200 million, up 50% from last year’s first half.”