Multifamily Leads NOI Growth in CMBS

The Ocean at 1 West Sgt. in Lower Manhattan posted the biggest annual NOI growth among apartment properties backing CMBS loans of greater than $50 million.

NEW YORK CITY—NOI in properties backing CMBS showed slower growth across the major property sectors in 2016, Fitch Ratings said Friday, although a couple of sectors showed slight increases from the previous year. The average of 2.3% improvement for properties securitized within the Fitch-rated US CMBS multi-borrower universe compares to NOI growth averaging 3% in 2015, 3.2% in 2014, 2.5% in 2013 and 2.5% in 2012.

Although its pace of growth was off by 800 basis points compared to the year prior, multifamily was comfortably in the lead with NOI growth of 4.6%. The ratings agency said the apartment sector is peaking but is expected to show continued growth in NOI thanks to favorable demographics, albeit at a considerably slower pace due to the declines in rent growth and increases in vacancy that are forecast for the next few years. Seventy-one percent of the multifamily properties, by Fitch-rated loan count, reported an increase in NOI for last year.