Financial services provider Merchants Capital announced on Monday it has successfully completed a $303 million securitization of 11 multifamily housing loans via its fourth Freddie Mac-sponsored Q-Series transaction.
The loans, ranging from $4 million to $62 million, were used for the acquisition or refinance of multifamily properties spanning eight states, with Florida, Indiana, Colorado, and New Jersey making up 81 percent of the loan balance. Most of the properties are workforce housing developments, with a significant portion of the units’ composition comprising less than 80 percent of the area median income (AMI).
This is Merchants’ fourth Freddie Mac Q transaction in the last two and a half years, totaling $1.1 billion in crucial real estate loans securitized nationwide. It is the second Q-Series transaction of 2023. Merchants has been the loan seller in four of the last nine Freddie Mac Q transactions, making Merchants Capital Freddie Mac’s largest Q-Series loan seller two years in a row.
This news comes on the heels of a record-breaking year for the Capital Markets platform at Merchants, having executed its second and third Q-Series deals in 2022. Since its inception in 2020, the Capital Markets group has executed more than $3.5 billion in securitizations and accumulated more than $1 billion in loan purchases.
“Executing on this securitization shows our strength and performance as a regional bank in this volatile financial climate,” said Evan Gibson, Merchants Capital’s Senior Vice President and head of Capital Markets. “In a down year for commercial real estate (CRE) securitizations, Merchants is completing complex securitizations to finance affordable housing in a responsible manner. We are proud to continue growing our relationship with Freddie Mac.”
The transaction supports financing of affordable housing in underserved markets, qualifying as “Social Bonds” within the Social Bonds Framework published on Freddie Mac’s website. Proceeds from Social Bonds are used to provide liquidity to social impact financial institutions (community development financial institutions, housing finance agencies and small financial institutions), including parent company Merchants Bank of Indiana.
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