Multifamily lending surged to new heights last year, according to a new report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), which compiled data from small and large lenders.

In 2013, 2,898 different multifamily lenders provided a total of $172.5 billion in new mortgages for apartment buildings with five or more units, an 18 percent increase from 2012 levels. Sixty-two percent of the active lenders made five or fewer multifamily loans over the course of the year.

"Multifamily lending hit a new record in 2013," Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s vice president of research and economics, said in a statement. "A strong appetite for loans led banks to increases multifamily lending by 19 percent, life companies to increase by 65 percent and the CMBS market to increase by 119 percent. The report shows increases in multifamily lending among both smaller and larger loan sizes and within most lender segments."

The MBA report is based on its surveys of the larger multifamily lenders and the recently released Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data that covers multifamily loans made by many smaller lenders, particularly commercial banks.

Smaller banks led the way with in the expansion. By dollar volume, the greatest share (39 percent of the total) went to commercial bank, thrift and credit union portfolios.

The top five multifamily lenders in 2013 by dollar volume were J.P. Morgan Chase and Co., Wells Fargo, PNC Real Estate, CBRE Capital Markets Inc. and KeyBank.