ORLANDO—Life company lenders, bankers and commercial mortgage-backed securities lenders agree: commercial real estate debt remains a strong relative value investment in today's low interest rate environment.

“With so few other alternatives besides real estate to make loans in, real estate has been on a pretty good run,” said Scott Bassin, executive vice president and head of multifamily with PNC Real Estate, at the Mortgage Bankers Association's Commercial Real Estate Finance/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo, held here this week.

MBA projects commercial and multifamily mortgage originations will grow to $300 billion this year, up 7% from 2013 volumes. “The fourth quarter marked the highest volume of mortgage originations since 2007, as all the major investor groups increased their activity,” said MBA vice president of commercial real estate research Jamie Woodwell. “Initial indications are that 2013's volume was up 15% from 2012, putting 2013 originations in the neighborhood of $280 billion in closed loans.”