CRE Lending Volumes Increased 45% Year Over Year in Q2: CBRE

In an uncertain economy, commercial real estate lending has rebounded in a big way in 2025. 

A new report from CBRE found that the volume of the firm’s internal United States commercial real estate loan closings increased by 45 percent between the second quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2025. 

A return to form of the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) market and a sustained belief in alternative credit helped paved the way for United States loan closings to increase by nearly 50 percent, even as overall CRE lending in the first quarter of the year declined by 6 percent due to the Trump administration’s tariffs. 

James Millon, CBRE’s president and co-head of capital markets for the United States and Canada, noted in a statement that once the Trump administration’s tariffs were delayed and the market received clarity on its intentions, both capital flows and credit spreads adjusted to traditional levels of activity. 

“Despite early challenges in the second quarter, the capital markets have demonstrated remarkable resilience and stabilization,” said Millon. “Industrial and multifamily assets, particularly those priced at a discount to replacement cost, continue to draw strong investor interest.”  

The growth in lending this year has been largely driven by alternative lenders and CMBS, however, with many banks still sidelined. 

Private credit lenders, which include debt funds and mortgage real estate investment trusts, saw their share of loans brokered with CBRE increase from 32 percent in the second quarter of 2024 to 34 percent in the second quarter of 2025, with debt funds seeing their lending volumes increase 52 percent year over year, according to CBRE.

CMBS, which has seen a confluence of large deals this year, especially in New York City, saw its CBRE lending volumes nearly triple, increasing from 9 percent to 19 percent year over year. 

For every increased share of the lending pie, some sections must contract, and banks and life insurance companies took the brunt of the hit, with their non-agency share lending volumes decreasing five and six percent, respectively. 

However, it wasn’t all a downward trajectory for these lenders. Bank CRE originations grew by 17 percent over the last year, while life company lending increased by two percent in the first two quarters of the year. 

Millon said that he expects “sustained momentum” for his firm as capital markets respond to evolving credit conditions. 

“While headwinds persist, the strength and flexibility of capital markets, supported by robust pipelines, position us for continued growth in transaction volumes across both sales and debt,” he said. 

Brian Pascus can be reached at bpascus@commercialobserver.com.