Washington, D.C. (December 15, 2005) - The level of commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding surpassed $2.5 trillion in the third quarter, growing 3.4 percent over the past three months, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) analysis of Federal Reserve Board Flow of Funds data. <br/><br/>At the end of the third quarter 2005, $2.5 trillion in commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding was recorded by the Federal Reserve, an increase of $83.8 billion (a new record for a quarterly increase) or 3.4 percent from the second quarter. Multifamily mortgage debt outstanding stood at $641 billion at the end of the third quarter - an increase of $9 billion or 1.5 percent from the second quarter. <br/><br/>'The commercial/multifamily mortgage market continues to be buoyed by modest long-term interest rates, improving property fundamentals and strong equity flows,' said Doug Duncan, MBA's chief economist and senior vice president of Research and Business Development. 'The result is a quarter with record originations, record increases in mortgage debt outstanding, near records in CMBS issuance and record increases in commercial bank’s commercial/multifamily mortgage holdings.' <br/><br/>The third quarter also saw $38.3 billion in issuance of commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS), 78 percent more than the same quarter last year and 3 percent less than the second quarter’s record issuance level.<br/><br/>Source: Mortgage-Bankers-Association <br/> <br/><br/>