NEW ORLEANS—Multifamily mortgage servicing—never an easy undertaking—may get even more challenging as portfolios shift and shrink and investors demand more loan surveillance, analysts said.

“We're finding 2014 to be a tough year,” said Bob Shean, COO of M&T Realty Capital Corp., speaking here at the Mortgage Bankers Association's Commercial/Multifamily Servicing and Technology Conference. Shean said some lenders report higher payoffs and lower retention rates, leading to shrinking portfolios.

Jon Boone, SVP and head of asset management with Grandbridge Real Estate Capital, Charlotte, NC, said even though his company's portfolio remained roughly level with the past few years, its components have shifted.