Big Banks’ Huge Year in CMBS

Don’t call it a comeback. It’s been here for years. 

A commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) market that had been largely muted for more than two years amid higher interest rates roared back into form this past year. All in, CMBS lending volume rose a whopping 150 percent in 2024 with $115 billion of issuance, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA).

Big banks powered much of that CMBS recovery, which was led largely by the single-asset, single-borrower (SASB) market. SASB loans accounted for 45 percent of CMBS originations in 2024, more than double the amount in 2023, according to KBRA. What’s more, these loans were often securitized by trophy office assets, signaling hope for a property sector still digging out from hybrid working trends spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Case in point: Owner Tishman Speyer sparked much of the SASB office market momentum, landing two large CMBS financings for Manhattan office towers over less than three months on the heels of the Federal Reserve starting to cut interest rates late in 2024.

In October 2024, Tishman Speyer secured a $3.5 billion CMBS refinance for its famed Rockefeller Center office complex that marked the largest-ever SASB office deal. Bank of America and Wells Fargo co-originated the historic transaction, which was boosted by strong investor demand that helped it close with a fixed interest rate of 6.23 percent after starting off at 6.5 percent.

Then, in January 2025, a consortium led by J.P. Morgan Chase alongside Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo originated a $2.85 billion refi of Tishman Speyer’s The Spiral office tower in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards.

While office played a leading role in the SASB market’s resurgence, the conduit CMBS side the past year continued to play only a supporting role.

The percentage of office loans in CMBS conduit pools hovered around 14 to 15 percent over the course of 2024, a sharp contrast to the typical 30 to 35 percent range dedicated toward office prior to 2020, according to CRED iQ. Supplanting office in conduit deals during 2024 were retail with 24.2 percent exposure and multifamily with 20.8 percent.

It wasn’t just the public debt markets where the big banks were active once again in 2024, with many showing a renewed appetite for balance sheet lending. Wells Fargo, for example, executed $15.4 billion in balance sheet originations over the course of 2024 in addition to being the nation’s top CMBS bookrunner with $17.3 billion of volume. 

Alternative lenders have certainly increased their market share in the higher interest rate environment that began in 2022, and 2024 was no different. But the last year showed banks remain an integral part of a CRE financing engine that is poised to further ramp up in 2025.