Lending activity during the past decade was notably more balanced and diversified compared to the period leading up to the GFC, where CMBS loan origination volume totalled 54% of originations. Debt funds, insurance companies — and, in the US, government agencies — have all accounted for a greater share of loan origination than CMBS in recent years.

And the average loan-to-value ratio of loans originated in the US since 2020 is 55%, a full 14 percentage points lower than the average ratio in 2007, generally indicating more conservative market behaviour. Loan-to-value ratios have ranged between 45% to 75% across larger European markets this cycle, and 40% to 60% across the larger markets in Asia Pacific.

New sources of debt are arising to complement funding options in markets and sectors where lenders are more cautious. Since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), debt funds added significant lending capacity to the US market amid the slowdown of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) activity.