Surprising strength in commercial mortgages

Folks in the commercial real estate world may be unnecessarily glum of late, if the recently-released Bank of Canada data is any guide. From what I can tell, outstanding Chartered bank commercial mortgages grew for the second straight month, up $429 million in February to $26.2 billion.

When compared to May 2008 levels, bank-provided commercial mortgages have risen 15%. During the same period, corporate and commercial bank loan balances have shrunk 7%. Basic residential mortgages grew exactly $7 million over 21 months, which is a rounding error on a base of $472.2 billion.

For all of the anticipated blowback on the asset class in the U.S., the Canadian commercial mortgage market is looking strong on both relative and absolute terms.

MRM