Growth In Commercial Space Supported By Mid-Range Purchases Beyond Greater Boston

By Laura Alix

Banker & Tradesman Staff

In an ultra-prolonged, ultra-low interest rate environment, some Massachusetts financial institutions are still beefing up their loan portfolios.

The Fast 50, compiled from data collected by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, reveals the 50 fastest growing lenders in Massachusetts for the first six months of the year, compared with the year-ago period.

And while larger financial institutions may be originating greater volumes of loans, smaller community banks and credit unions saw some of the greatest year-over-year increases in this year’s list. Mansfield Bank, for instance, increased its residential lending volume by 129 percent year-over-year to $42.8 million.

Or consider Tremont Credit Union, which increased its residential loan volume 218 percent this year, to $13.2 million from $4.2 million last year.

Michael Lemelin, the credit union’s senior vice president of lending, said that the organization had revamped its entire mortgage portfolio and benefitted from decent purchase activity and refinance activity.

Mortgage companies made out well, too. Cross Country Mortgage Inc. dominated the list, with 456 residential loans totaling $144.8 million this year, compared with 36 loans totaling $9.8 million last year. That’s a whopping 1,377 percent increase in volume.

Community banks benefitted greatly where commercial lending was concerned in this year’s Fast 50. That may be due in part to increasing regulatory focus on commercial real estate concentration, motivating larger institutions to not add on loans as quickly as they did in recent years. Or it may simply be that demand at the high end of the market is cooling off. Whatever the case, smaller institutions began to bulk up this year.

For instance, Pentucket Bank took the top spot in commercial lending by volume of loans, making commercial real estate mortgages totaling $26.9 million this year, compared with $1.6 million in the first half of 2015. By number of loans, Greenfield Cooperative Bank dominated the list, making 34 commercial real estate loans this year, compared with 11 this year, totaling $9.1 million and $1.9 million, respectively.

Charles Walker, president of Pentucket Bank, said the bank booked a couple of large deals earlier this year, which helped boost its commercial volume, and also benefitted from modest improvements in the local economy. He added that Pentucket Bank was holding pricing and credit quality standards steady and had added one new commercial lender in Massachusetts.

HarborOne Bank also added new commercial lenders and credit support staff to help augment its growth, said Scott Sanborn, senior vice president of commercial lending. The bank made 30 commercial real estate loans totaling $59.5 million in the first half of 2016, compared with 13 loans totaling $35.4 million, earning it a place among this year’s Fast 50.

“I’d say within Massachusetts, we’ve found a lot of opportunities outside of Greater Boston; between 128 out to 495, we’ve found that market to be busier,” he told Banker & Tradesman. “I would say there’s certainly a lot more purchase activity than refinance activity. Investors have been active, but certainly the activity has remained strong and we’ve seen more purchase transaction opportunities and properties changing hands.”

Email: lalix@thewarrengroup.com