Web-Based Trading of Commercial Loans on the Rise.(Brief Article)

An analysis conducted by the Mortgage Bankers Association of America suggests that the Web is an increasingly important tool used to originate and trade commercial mortgage loans.

During the first half of last year, the MBA found that Web-enabled commercial mortgage lending and trading exceeded $2 billion in volume.

And MBA officials have little doubt that the Web's role in commercial mortgage lending will continue to grow.

The growing volume shows that the Internet's power as a business tool is beginning to be realized, according to the MBA.

Daniel Szparaga, a director in the MBA's commercial and multifamily business group, said that interviews with firms that participated in the MBA study indicate that they continue to see strong growth in the number of transactions done online.

A number of technology firms also plan to announce agreements with new clients that will increase their installed customer base and further add to a rise in completed online transactions by year-end, the MBA said.

And the MBA believes that the real volume of online commercial mortgage lending activity may be larger than their study indicates, because some firms do not disclose relevant data.