SOUTHFIELD, MI—Continued momentum from 2017 is the expectation for 2018, according to Berkadia's inaugural Powerhouse Poll of its investment sales brokers and mortgage bankers. Accordingly, the poll numbers suggest more of the same in a number of areas, with 74% of mortgage bankers expecting no letup in multifamily lending, while 90% expect that the GSEs will see the most action as investors look to finance their purchases.

Underscoring these expectations, says Berkadia's Ernie Katai, is “the capital that continues to play in the market. And it's not just the agencies and the debt funds, but also the private capital that needs to be placed.”

EVP and head of production at Berkadia, Katai has been at the National Multifamily Housing Council's Annual Meeting in Orlando this week. A point made repeatedly during his time at the NMHC conference, he tells GlobeSt.com, is that “there is just a need to continue to get capital out. A lot of the investment alternatives continue to not be that attractive for the big institutional investors. Let's just say this: I haven't talked to a single person in the past day and a half who is bringing in their allocation for real estate.”