"The strength in new lending during the second quarter is not at all surprising," says MBA Commercial/Multifamily Research vice chair Jeff Weidell. "With interest rates at or near their lowest point in more than 40 years, the cost of financing new transactions and refinancing existing commercial debt presented an unprecedented opportunity for most market participants, and has been the major factor in driving up loan demand." Retail properties saw the biggest jump in lending volume with a 44% increase over last quarter's numbers. However, it was the multifamily sector that accounted for the majority of the lending activity, taking 51% of the billions of dollars in originations.