A view of CRE debt is a window into activity, although with some potential caveats. With all the news of falling transaction volumes, higher interest rates and rate caps, and diminishing valuations without a massive and obvious influx of distress purchasing, one might assume that the amount of CRE debt was falling.

Except, according to a recent Trepp analysis, "The universe of commercial mortgages increased by $320.5 billion year-over-year, or 5.9% from Q2 2022, to $5.8 trillion in Q2 2023, according to the Federal Reserve's flow of funds," or the Z.1 report, that the firm compiled.

Multifamily mortgage debt was up 7.1%, $141.6 billion, from roughly $2 trillion to $2.1 trillion in the second quarter of 2023. "Pension plans saw a 23.3% rise in multifamily loans on their books to $3.8 billion," they wrote. "Other lending sources that contributed to the increase in the inventory of multifamily mortgages were banks and thrifts, which had an increase of 8.8% to $682.2 billion, insurance companies, which saw an increase of 6.3% to $219.0 billion, and the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which increased 5.7% to $970.6 billion."