Portfolio Loan on Investment Property: Who Keeps Them (2025 Data)

What “portfolio loan” means in law, and what the federal record can show

A portfolio loan, in the sense searchers use, is a loan the lender keeps on its own books instead of selling to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or an investor. No federal rule defines the term for investor loans. The nearest legal use is in Regulation Z, where a small-creditor portfolio qualified mortgage under 12 CFR 1026.43(e)(5)(ii) “immediately loses its status as a qualified mortgage under paragraph (e)(5)(i)” if legal title is sold, assigned or transferred, unless that happens “three years or more after consummation of the qualified mortgage” or in a short list of other cases. Business credit is outside that regime: 12 CFR 1026.3, “Exempt transactions”, says “The following transactions are not subject to this part” and lists at (a)(1) “An extension of credit primarily for a business, commercial or agricultural purpose.” In our group, 81.4% of the loans not sold are reported by their lenders as business-purpose loans (our arithmetic, among the loans whose lenders report the flag). So for most investor loans the word “portfolio” describes what a lender did, not a legal status.

What the lender did is recorded in the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data (Regulation C, 12 CFR part 1003) in a field called purchaser type. Section 1003.4(a)(11) asks for “The type of entity purchasing a covered loan that the financial institution originates or purchases and then sells within the same calendar year.” The FFIEC field list gives the codes: 0 is “Not applicable”, 1 Fannie Mae, 2 Ginnie Mae, 3 Freddie Mac, 4 Farmer Mac, 5 private securitizer, 6 commercial bank, savings bank or savings association, 71 credit union, mortgage company or finance company, 72 life insurance company, 8 affiliate institution and 9 other. The official interpretation, comment 4(a)(11)-10, says a lender reports not applicable “if the institution originated or purchased a covered loan and did not sell it during that same calendar year.”

Three things the code 0 does not mean:

1. It does not mean the lender kept the loan. Comment 4(a)(11)-9 says: “If a financial institution sells the covered loan in a succeeding year, the financial institution should not record the sale.” A loan made in December 2025 and sold in February 2026 is a 0.
2. It can hide partial sales. Comment 4(a)(11)-1 says that if a lender “sells some interest or interests in a covered loan but retains a majority interest in that loan, it does not report the sale.”
3. It says nothing about the loan after 2025. Servicing, a later sale or a securitization are not in this file, and the public file carries no month of origination, so a loan made in January and one made in December look alike (our reading).

So we call the loans reported with code 0 “not sold within the year” and treat them as the upper bound of the loans a lender chose to hold. The measure is most reliable for banks and credit unions that lend from deposits and least reliable for mortgage companies that fund loans on credit lines and sell them (our reading).

What we counted. From the nationwide 2025 file we kept originated loans (action taken 1) with occupancy code 3 (investment property), first lien, for a purchase, refinance or cash-out refinance, not a reverse mortgage and not an open-end line of credit. One to four units: 516,990 loans. Five or more units are reported separately: 38,676 loans. Business-purpose loans are in HMDA when they are purchases or refinancings: 12 CFR 1003.3(c)(10) excludes a loan “made primarily for a business or commercial purpose” unless it is a home improvement loan, a home purchase loan or a refinancing. Counting every one-to-four-unit investment-property loan, including second liens, lines of credit and home improvement loans, 581,837 were originated and 226,763 (39.0%) were not sold. Our guide to investment property loans sorts the same loans by route.

Who bought the investor loans that were sold

If a lender sells a loan, to whom? In 2025 the largest named group of buyers of one-to-four-unit investor loans was not the two agencies. Credit unions, mortgage companies and finance companies (code 71) took 16.5%, private securitizers 13.7%, Freddie Mac 7.8% and Fannie Mae 6.5%. The agencies together bought 74,054 loans; the median rate on those was 6.99%, against 7.875% on loans that went to private securitizers.

Buyer of 2025 originated investor loans, by loan group

The 5+ unit column is the reverse of the one-to-four-unit pattern: 79.8% were not sold, and the agencies took 7.0% (Fannie Mae) and 3.4% (Freddie Mac).

Not sold by loan structure: balloons, bridge loans and 30-year loans

The not-sold share is not one number. We sorted the one-to-four-unit loans by term and balloon, the two fields that tell a 12-month bridge loan from a bank’s five-year balloon from a 30-year loan.

Investor loans, one to four units, 2025: share not sold within the year, by loan structure

Three patterns stand out. First, the structure that goes unsold almost every time is the balloon: a 5-year term (median 60 months) amortized longer, with the remaining balance due at the end. 93.8% of those loans were not sold, at a median rate of 7.00% and a median loan of $175,000. Second, lenders of 12-month bridge and flip loans (median term 12 months) had not sold 29.1% of them, which fits a loan that is repaid within a year (our reading). Third, the 30-year-style loan was not sold 24.4% of the time, and it is the largest group (91,702 loans not sold) and the one where the code is least informative.

A name test shows where those 30-year loans sit. Lenders whose names contain bank, credit union, savings, trust or N.A. made 152,140 of the loans and had not sold 77.0% of them; all other lenders made 364,768 and had not sold 18.6%. Of the 67,937 loans not sold by the second group, 54,537 (80.3%, our arithmetic) were 30-year-style loans without a balloon. We cannot tell from this file whether those lenders chose to hold them or were still waiting for a buyer in January 2026.

The lenders with the most loans not sold in 2025

Ranked by count, the list below mixes two different things. Mortgage companies with very large volume top it because even a modest share not sold is a big number; banks and credit unions top it because they sell almost nothing.

Largest lenders by one-to-four-unit investor loans not sold within 2025

How to read the table. The Loan Store, Champions Funding, AmWest Funding, A&D Mortgage, United Wholesale Mortgage, Loan Funder, CMG Mortgage, Rocket Mortgage and CrossCountry Mortgage are not banks by name; the share not sold is between 9.3% (United Wholesale Mortgage, 2,783 of 29,969) and 91.3% (AmWest Funding, 4,237 of 4,639, with 84.6% of them interest-only), and we cannot say how many were later sold (our reading). Kiavi Funding, which made 25,518 of these loans, had not sold 1,575 of them (6.2%); those are short loans, with a median term of 12 months and 69.0% interest-only, while 23,943 of its loans went to private securitizers within the year. JPMorgan Chase Bank, NexBank and Bank of America are the first names in the list that behave like banks holding loans for years: 37.2%, 98.3% and 85.3% not sold, with medians of 360 months at 6.375%, 6.625% and 6.25%. 21st Mortgage reports 1,407 loans, none sold, with a median loan of only $65,000 at a median rate of 9.33%.

Banks and credit unions that kept nearly everything

The second list takes lenders whose names mark them as banks or credit unions, with at least 300 loans not sold and at least 90% of their loans not sold, leaving out the names already in the table above.

Banks and credit unions that had not sold 90% or more of their 2025 investor loans (one to four units)

The structure of the loans separates two kinds of portfolio lender. Community and regional banks in Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas write short balloons: Community Bank of Mississippi (819 of 835 not sold) has a median term of 60 months and a balloon on 70.6% of its loans; Bank OZK (723 of 733) 60 months and a balloon on 98.6%; Simmons Bank (523 of 580) 60 months and 99.4%; BankPlus (513 of 536) 60 months and 90.5%. Their median rates are 8.05%, 6.50%, 7.75% and 7.50%. A second group writes 30-year loans and holds them: East West Bank (1,316 of 1,317, median combined loan-to-value 50.0%, median rate 6.50%), Charles Schwab Bank, SSB (454 of 454, median rate 5.75%, loan-to-value 62.2%) and State Employees’ Credit Union (1,152 of 1,152, 5.50%, 79.3%). What these tables cannot show is who is eligible: a credit union’s membership rules, a bank’s requirement for a deposit relationship, a minimum credit score or a maximum number of properties are not in HMDA (our reading).

Lenders that sold everything within the year

At the other end are lenders that made thousands of investor loans and had not sold almost none of them by December 31, 2025. These lenders sold nearly all of their loans within the year.

Large one-to-four-unit investor lenders that had not sold under 3% of their 2025 loans

For a borrower this is the other half of the answer. These lenders did not keep their 2025 investor loans through the end of the year, and the last columns show who bought them. If the question is which lender holds its own loans, these are not the names to look for (our reading).

Rates, loan-to-value and terms: held versus sold

The median note rate on one-to-four-unit loans not sold within the year was 7.00%, against 7.37% on loans that were sold (our arithmetic, among the loans whose lenders report a rate; lenders eligible for a partial exemption under 12 CFR 1003.3(d) may leave optional fields such as the rate blank). The gap is smaller than the gap between buyers: loans that went to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac had a median rate of 6.99% and loans that went to private securitizers 7.875%.

Medians of one-to-four-unit investor loans, 2025, by what happened to the loan

Two readings follow, both ours. The headline shares of balloon (31.2% against 12.7%) and the median loan ($205,000 against $245,000) say a held investor loan is smaller and more often a balloon than a sold one. And the rate says that on the same property type a held loan did not carry a large premium in 2025. A borrower comparing a bank’s five-year balloon at 7.00% with a 30-year DSCR loan at a higher rate is comparing two different risks: the balloon puts a refinance in year five, which a 30-year loan does not.

Purpose and size of building also move the share. Of purchase loans, 36.9% were not sold; of rate-and-term refinances, 47.0%; of cash-out refinances, 22.7%. By building: 34.4% for one unit, 41.5% for two, 42.9% for three and 45.1% for four. Loans reported as made for a personal purpose were not sold 25.9% of the time and loans reported as business purpose 30.1%; lenders that leave the flag blank under the small-lender exemption, 96.4%.

By state: where lenders keep investor loans

The share not sold differs by state because lenders differ by state. Among the states with 2,000 or more loans in the file, it ranged from 17.1% in Nevada to 80.8% in Iowa.

Share of one-to-four-unit investor loans not sold within 2025, selected states (states with 2,000 or more loans)

The five states with the highest share are Iowa, Mississippi, Nebraska, Arkansas and Louisiana; the five with the lowest are Nevada, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and Arizona. The data cannot say why. A state where community banks and credit unions make most of the investor loans will look like Iowa; a state where national wholesale mortgage companies and DSCR lenders do will look like Nevada (our reading). If you are shopping for a held loan, the practical reading is that in the states at the top the local bank is a real option, and in the states at the bottom most of your lenders will sell the loan.

Five or more units: most of the lending is held

Apartment buildings are a different market. Of 38,676 loans on investment properties of five or more units, totaling $240.2 billion, 30,864 (79.8%) were not sold within 2025, $118.6 billion or 49.4% of the dollars (our arithmetic). The median loan not sold was $1,075,000 at 6.50%, a median combined loan-to-value of 63.0% and a 120-month median term; 81.9% of them have a balloon payment and 32.0% are interest-only. Loans sold had a median size of $4,380,000, a lower median rate (6.15%) and a median combined loan-to-value of 65.0%. Fannie Mae bought 7.0% and Freddie Mac 3.4%.

Largest lenders by 5+ unit investor loans not sold within 2025

The list is short at the top and long underneath: the ten largest account for 19.7% of the loans not sold and the largest, JPMorgan Chase Bank, for 12.2%. Wells Fargo Bank sold 131 of its 348 loans, yet the 217 it had not sold total $12.2 billion, with a median loan of $32,005,000. For a borrower on a smaller building, the median loan not sold ($1,075,000) is a better guide than the top of the table; our multifamily loan rates guide covers the rate side.

Portfolio loan versus blanket loan

The two terms are often used as if they were one. A portfolio loan is defined by who holds the note. A blanket loan is defined by what secures it: one mortgage on several properties. A bank can hold a loan on a single rental, as most loans above do, and a blanket loan can be sold into a securitization. HMDA records one property per loan, which our blanket loan guide covers along with property minimums, release clauses and Fannie Mae’s ten-property limit. This page does not repeat that material.

What a borrower can do with this

1. Ask whether the lender intends to sell the loan, and ask for the note’s terms in writing. In this file a lender’s answer is the difference between a 5-year balloon at a local bank and a 30-year loan sold to a securitizer. Code 0 does not tell you which you have.
2. If a bank offers a portfolio loan, ask about the balloon date. 93.8% of the balloon loans over 36 months were not sold, with a median term of 60 months. Plan the refinance in year five, not year thirty.
3. Compare the held loan with a DSCR loan on cost over the time you will own, not on rate. Held loans had a median rate of 7.00% in 2025 against 7.37% for loans that were sold, a gap of 0.37 points (our arithmetic) that is small next to a balloon date, points and a prepayment schedule, which differ loan by loan (our reading). Points, fees and prepayment terms on business-purpose loans are not in HMDA; ask for the schedule.
4. Use the lender lists as a starting point, not a recommendation. A bank on the list kept its 2025 loans, but eligibility, property types, maximum loan size and whether it lends in your market are its own. Phone the bank or credit union in your state with the highest share first (the state table above).
5. For an apartment building of five or more units, 79.8% of the loans in the file were not sold within the year and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bought 10.4% (our arithmetic), so ask a bank for a quote alongside an agency lender.

Kiavi, Visio and Lima One lend to investors on business-purpose DSCR and short-term loans, not on owner-occupied homes. They are not examples of a bank portfolio lender: in the 2025 file, Kiavi had not sold 1,575 of 25,518 loans (6.2%) and Lima One Capital 1,005 of 2,316 (43.4%); we did not find Visio Lending in the extract under that name. The button is there because a reader choosing between a held bank loan and a DSCR loan should see the DSCR lender’s own terms.

FAQ

This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice. Loan-level data: FFIEC/CFPB HMDA 2025 nationwide file of originated and denied applications (actions 1 and 3), as extracted on October 10, 2026 for our down payment guide (investment-property and two-to-four-unit rows, 906,337), filtered here to originated investment-property loans and analyzed with analysis.py; the script, the output tables and the lender name list (FFIEC 2025 filer list; seven unlisted identifiers looked up in the GLEIF public record on October 13, 2026) are in sources/. Field definitions: FFIEC public LAR data fields. Law: 12 CFR 1003.3 and 1003.4(a)(11) and the official interpretations in Supplement I to part 1003 (eCFR, current as of October 1, 2026, read October 13, 2026); 12 CFR 1026.3(a) and 1026.43(e)(5) (same). Percentages and medians are our arithmetic from the loan-level file. HMDA reports what a lender did within the calendar year, not what it did later.