Newmark’s Incoming President of Multifamily Financing Shares Her Plans
By Keith Loria November 30, 2023 8:01 am
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Newmark (NMRK)’s Sharon Karaffa will take on a new role as the firm’s president of multifamily debt and structured finance, effective at the start of 2024 upon the retirement of Jeff Day.
Working out of Newmark’s Tysons office in McLean, Va., Karaffa will lead multifamily capital markets in partnership with Chad Lavender, the firm’s president of North America capital markets.
In her new role, Karaffa will focus on market share and revenue growth, business development, and client and lender relationships, while also leading Newmark’s Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA lending platforms. She also will help expand the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) efforts.
“In this role, my goal is to further strengthen collaboration across Newmark, expanding service offerings to our clients, and leading the team to become the No. 1 multifamily capital markets platform in the industry,” she told Commercial Observer.
“I also look forward to making an impact on DE&I initiatives throughout Newmark and the broader industry. This involves enhancing opportunities for minority groups within our sector and partnering with other industry leaders to address the affordable housing crisis.”
Karaffa joined Newmark in 2017 following a 13-year tenure at Fannie Mae. At that time, the government-sponsored enterprise’s debt platform was working with Newmark’s multifamily investment sales platform, leading to the establishment of the brokerage’s multifamily capital markets team.
During the past three years serving, with Karaffa serving as Newmark’s vice president and co-head of production in capital markets, the firm saw a 28 percent increase in multifamily investment sales volume financed through its debt platform and approximately a 60 percent increase in multifamily debt production volume overall, according to the firm.
“At Newmark, I have thoroughly enjoyed contributing to our growth trajectory, continuing to expand our multifamily debt and sales platforms, and increasing our market share,” she said.
“However, there are still ample opportunities throughout this platform, and I am excited to partner with our teams and clients in reaching new heights, exceeding goals, and consistently delivering Newmark’s best-in-class services.”
Additionally, Karaffa oversees collaboration between Newmark’s various teams involved in multifamily deals, from the capital markets to structured finance to investment sales.
“In this capacity, I collaborate closely with our debt producers, credit teams and asset managers to deliver tailored debt solutions to our clients,” she said.
Outside of Newmark, Karaffa is a member of the National Multifamily Housing Council’s Finance Committee and Fannie Mae’s Delegated Underwriting and Servicing (DUS) Advisory Council. She also chairs Fannie Mae’s DUS DE&I Subcommittee, driving initiatives to advance underrepresented individuals in the industry.
Keith Loria can be reached at Kloria@commercialobserver.com.
