It’s good to be on top, but in an increasingly competitive and prolonged low-rate environment, the watch words for this year’s Top Lenders might well be “cautious optimism.”

For those banks, credit unions and mortgage companies on Banker & Tradesman’s annual Top Lenders list, 2015 was a solid year, with many posting considerable increases over the prior year’s loan production in both commercial and residential loan categories.

While the interest rate environment continued to squeeze margins, Bay State lenders still benefited from homebuyers looking to purchase and homeowners looking to refinance. And slow, but steady economic growth meant that there was plenty of business to be had in the Greater Boston area’s increasingly white-hot commercial real estate market.

Where residential mortgages were concerned, the Arlington-based Leader Bank came out on top of the list of banks, booking $666 million in single-family purchase mortgages and $260 million in condo purchases.

Along with low rates and a late-starting but strong purchase season, the bank undoubtedly also benefited from its geographical location, said Jay Tuli, senior vice president and head of retail banking and residential lending.

“On the purchases in particular, the Boston economy is at a place now where it’s just attracting a lot of jobs. There are bigger announcements like GE, but it’s also just the number of startups and the number of foreign companies coming in and starting subsidiaries, there’s a lot of job growth,” Tuli said. “We’re fortunate to be on the eastern side of Massachusetts where most of the job growth is happening.”

Elsewhere in the state, Berkshire Bank maintained its Top Lender status with nearly $224 million in single-family purchase volume last year and $64.7 million in condo purchase volume. That amounted to about an 8 percent year-over-year increase in its condo purchase business and a small decline (1.4 percent) in single-family purchases.
In an email to Banker & Tradesman, Allan Costello, senior vice president and head of residential lending at Berkshire Bank, attributed the bank’s sustained residential loan production in part to the continued low interest rate environment, which also spurred a sustained interest in refinancing.

Bankers who fear a “credit union creep” might also look at credit union their counterparts. Digital Federal Credit Union made $81.5 million in single-family mortgage loan business last year, representing an increase of nearly 54 percent from 2014. And Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union did $68.9 million in mortgage loan volume last year, more than doubling its business from 2014.

Meanwhile, non-depository mortgage lenders beat out banks where both volume and numbers were concerned. Guaranteed Rate, which was virtually absent from the Massachusetts mortgage market as recently as five years ago, nabbed the top spot in its category for single-family purchases by volume, posting nearly $732 million worth of mortgage loans. That represented about a 32 percent increase from its prior year purchase volume. Guaranteed Rate also topped out its lender category in condo purchases, ending 2015 with $347.9 million worth of new condo purchase business.

Sleeping Well At Night

Where commercial mortgages are concerned, perhaps it’s unsurprising that the lion’s share of 2015’s Top Lenders were concentrated in and around Eastern Massachusetts. Eastern Bank claimed the lead with $278.2 million in commercial mortgages last year, nearly double its production from the prior year, and East Boston Savings Bank more than doubled its commercial mortgage production on a year-over-year basis to $226.4 million for 2015.

Middlesex Savings Bank and Cambridge Savings Bank, neither of which qualified as a Top Lender in 2014, muscled their way onto the list this year, with $132 million and $130 million, respectively, in commercial mortgage volume for 2015.

Thomas Farley, chief commercial banking officer at Middlesex Savings Bank, said the bank was particularly active in financing investment properties and owner-occupied real estate last year. He added that the bank also financed some hotels, attributing demand in that particular sector to high occupancy rates and hoteliers beefing up their business with more and newer rooms.

Richard Muraida, Rockland Trust’s lending center manager for its commercial banking division, particularly emphasized the larger transactions his bank did around Class B office space in the city of Boston.
And Doug Faithfull, chief lending officer at Cambridge Savings Bank, said CSB had benefited from many of its preexisting customer relationships over the past few years.

But all that increasing commercial real estate activity – the luxury condos popping up all over town and the cranes increasingly dotting skylines in Southie and the Seaport District – has naturally also prompted worries that the market may be overheating. It’s no great secret, either: Listen in on any earnings conference call these days, and inevitably an investor will ask about the commercial real estate scene – particularly in Boston.

Muraida and Faithfull both spoke of competition in the marketplace – and in particular, of cash buyouts and refinances spurring some of their own borrowers to pay off loans ahead of schedule. John Migliozzi, executive vice president at East Boston Savings, spoke of non-recourse loans and high loan-to-value ratios, which he said his bank won’t touch.

On the whole, many of the Top Lenders shared a similar philosophy on lending, characterized by a willingness to work with borrowers, but not at the cost of credit quality.

“We tend to be fairly conservative about how we structure loans,” Faithfull said. “You lose opportunities during the hot times, but you can sleep at night and then you’re well positioned when things slow down to weather the storm.” 

Single-Family Mortgages

Bank # Purchased Money Loans

---

Leader Bank NA    1,514

---

Wells Fargo Bank    1,189

---

Bank of America NA    867

---

Santander Bank NA    794

---

Cape Cod Five Cent Bank    744

---

RBS Citizens NA    619

---

Sage Bank    607

---

Berkshire Bank    570

---

Bank of Canton    553

---

Citicorp Mortgage Inc.    479

 

Bank Vol. Purchased Money Loans

---

Leader Bank NA    $666,032,303

---

Wells Fargo Bank    $590,986,881

---

Bank of America NA    $431,053,454

---

Santander Bank NA    $284,436,387

---

Cape Cod Five Cent Bank    $274,475,420

---

Citicorp Mortgage Inc.    $253,945,453

---

RBS Citizens NA    $237,421,303

---

First Republic Bank    $230,576,117

---

Berkshire Bank    $223,892,040

---

Needham Bank    $223,377,064

---

Credit Union # Purchased Money Loans

---

Digital Federal Credit Union    261

---

Greylock Federal Credit Union    243

---

Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union    213

---

Workers Credit Union    194

---

Metro Credit Union    165

---

Navy Federal Credit Union    164

---

Freedom Credit Union    136

---

St. Mary’s Credit Union    92

---

St. Anne’s Credit Union    81

---

Holyoke Credit Union    77

Credit Union Vol. Purchased Money Loans

---

Digital Federal Credit Union    $81,535,325

---

Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union    $68,936,574

---

Metro Credit Union    $58,803,680

---

Navy Federal Credit Union    $56,081,638

---

Workers Credit Union    $46,309,535

---

Greylock Federal Credit Union$39,424,679

---

Harvard University Credit Union    $29,533,505

---

Rockland Federal Credit Union    $24,838,094

---

St. Mary’s Credit Union    $24,539,876

---

Baxter Credit Union    $22,599,292

 

Mortgage Co. # Purchased Money Loans

---

Residential Mortgage Services    1,943

---

Guaranteed Rate Inc.    1,922

---

LoanDepot.Com    1,742

---

Mortgage Networks Inc.    1,314

---

Fairway Independent Mortgage    1,144

---

Prospect Mortgage LLC    888

---

Salem Five Mortgage Co.    859

---

NE Moves Mortgage Co.    730

---

Quicken Loan Inc.    713

---

Radius Financial Group    630

 

Mortgage Co. Vol. Purchased Money Loans

---

Guaranteed Rate Inc.    $731,965,735

---

LoanDepot.Com    $651,683,405

---

Residential Mortgage Services    $547,766,139

---

Mortgage Networks Inc.    $472,525,552

---

Fairway Independent Mortgage    $395,868,874

---

Salem Five Mortgage Co.    $303,123,345

---

Prospect Mortgage LLC    $297,887,560

---

NE Moves Mortgage Co.    $277,757,826

---

Quicken Loan Inc.    $220,968,991

---

Radius Financial Group    $193,956,068

 

Condo Mortgages

Bank # Purchased Money Loans

---

Leader Bank NA    760

---

Wells Fargo Bank    451

---

Santander Bank NA    339

---

Bank of America NA    315

---

RBS Citizens NA    249

---

Bank of Canton    227

---

First Republic Bank    226

---

Berkshire Bank    208

---

Cape Cod Five Cent Bank    186

---

Eastern Bank    171

Bank Vol. Purchased Money Loans

---

Leader Bank NA    $260,007,993

---

Wells Fargo Bank    $217,784,135

---

First Republic Bank    $168,594,041

---

Bank of America NA    $135,887,640

---

Santander Bank NA    $91,160,643

---

Citicorp Mortgage Inc.    $76,941,984

---

RBS Citizens NA $74,510,366

---

Boston Private Bank $70,982,277

---

Bank of Canton    $67,683,691

---

Berkshire Bank    $64,719,674

 

Credit Union # Purchased Money Loans

---

Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union    114

---

Digital Federal Credit Union    111

---

Harvard University Credit Union    97

---

Metro Credit Union    70

---

Workers Credit Union    47

---

RTN Federal Credit Union    34

---

Align Credit Union    26

---

Navy Federal Credit Union    24

---

Rockland Fed Credit Union    23

---

Quincy Credit Union    19

Credit Union Vol. Purchased Money Loans

---

Harvard University Credit Union    $34,754,608

---

Digital Federal Credit Union    $25,362,804

---

Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union    $24,674,018

---

Metro Credit Union    $19,664,013

---

RTN Federal Credit Union    $12,037,835

---

Workers Credit Union    $8,489,823

---

Baxter Credit Union    $6,951,496

---

USA Alliance Federal Credit Union    $6,219,075

---

Navy Federal Credit Union    $5,475,551

---

Align Credit Union    $5,088,750

Mortgage Co. # Purchased Money Loans

---

Guaranteed Rate Inc.    1,067

---

LoanDepot.Com    660

---

Mortgage Networks Inc.    550

---

Fairway Independent Mortgage    440

---

Residential Mortgage Services    435

---

Prospect Mortgage LLC    381

---

Salem Five Mortgage Co.    323

---

NE Moves Mortgage Co.    259

---

Washington Trust Mortgage    200

---

MSA Mortgage LLC    174

 

Mortgage Co. Vol. Purchased Money Loans

---

Guaranteed Rate Inc.    $347,927,500

---

LoanDepot.Com    $214,793,244

---

Mortgage Networks Inc.    $175,683,604

---

Fairway Independent Mortgage    $139,326,677

---

Prospect Mortgage LLC    $112,176,635

---

Residential Mortgage Services    $109,161,756

---

Salem Five Mortgage Co.    $79,230,098

---

NE Moves Mortgage Co.    $71,737,469

---

Washington Trust Mortgage    $65,806,654

---

MSA Mortgage LLC    $54,570,610

 

Residential Refinance/Second/Equity/HELOC Mortgage

Bank # Refinance Loans

---

Bank of America NA    6,277

---

Wells Fargo Bank    3,168

---

Santander Bank NA    2,955

---

Rockland Trust Co.    2,601

---

Leader Bank NA    2,402

---

RBS Citizens NA    1,835

---

Cape Cod Five Cent Bank    1,324

---

JPMorgan Chase Bank    1,175

---

Berkshire Bank    964

---

Citicorp Mortgage Inc.    894

Bank Vol. Refinance Loans

---

Bank of America NA    $1,574,742,127

---

Leader Bank NA    $927,797,228

---

Wells Fargo Bank    $900,618,183

---

Santander Bank NA    $732,757,210

---

RBS Citizens NA   $545,697,062

---

Rockland Trust Co.    $507,913,529

---

Cape Cod Five Cent Bank   $392,385,166

---

First Republic Bank   $372,247,632

---

JPMorgan Chase Bank    $366,320,431

---

Berkshire Bank   $335,873,150

 

Credit Union # Refinance Loans

---

Hanscom Federal Credit Union    1,297

---

Digital Federal Credit Union    1,293

---

Workers Credit Union    945

---

Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union    811

---

Direct Credit Union    763

---

St. Anne’s Credit Union    707

---

Rockland Federal Credit Union    634

---

Metro Credit Union    586

---

RTN Federal Credit Union    424

---

Quincy Credit Union    413

Credit Union Vol. Refinance Loans

---

Digital Federal Credit Union    $213,742,983

---

Hanscom Federal Credit Union    $170,381,854

---

Metro Credit Union   $163,026,318

---

Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union    $150,281,105

---

Direct Credit Union    $146,585,226

---

Workers Credit Union    $96,465,973

---

Rockland Federal Credit Union    $84,003,966

---

St. Anne’s Credit Union    $76,775,660

---

Align Credit Union $75,487,250

---

Quincy Credit Union   $59,158,763

Mortgage Co. # Refinance Loans

---

Quicken Loan Inc.    6,094

---

LoanDepot.Com    5,007

---

Guaranteed Rate Inc.    2,462

---

Salem Five Mortgage Co.    1,694

---

Residential Mortgage Services    1,530

---

Mortgage Networks Inc.    1,316

---

Fairway Independent Mortgage    1,188

---

Prospect Mortgage LLC    889

---

Green Tree Financial Services    814

---

Nationstar Mortgage    804

Mortgage Co. Vol. Refinance Loans

---

LoanDepot.Com   $1,718,815,692

---

Quicken Loan Inc.    $1,560,369,938

---

Guaranteed Rate Inc.   $853,073,208

---

Salem Five Mortgage Co.   $560,121,290

---

Residential Mortgage Services    $459,549,170

---

Mortgage Networks Inc.   $445,065,104

---

Fairway Independent Mortgage    $431,721,938

---

Prospect Mortgage LLC   $272,418,239

---

MSA Mortgage LLC   $219,976,809

---

Commonwealth Mortgage   $215,917,936

 

Commercial/Retail Mortgages

Bank # Purchased Money Loans

---

Rockland Trust Co.    204

---

Eastern Bank    200

---

Enterprise Bank & Trust Co.    148

---

Bank of America NA    134

---

TD Bank NA    132

---

East Boston Savings Bank    106

---

Avidia Bank    81

---

RBS Citizens NA    80

---

Middlesex Savings Bank    79

---

Cape Cod Five Cent Bank    77

Bank Vol. Purchased Money Loans

---

Eastern Bank    $278,194,832

---

East Boston Savings Bank    $226,442,290

---

Rockland Trust Co $188,261,612

---

TD Bank NA    $164,745,801

---

Brookline Bank    $134,083,586

---

Enterprise Bank & Trust Co.   $134,020,081

---

Middlesex Savings Bank    $132,078,336

---

Cambridge Savings Bank   $130,945,913

---

RBS Citizens NA    $123,072,770

---

Bank of America NA   $121,104,002

Credit Union # Purchased Money Loans

---

Digital Federal Credit Union    40

---

Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union    19

---

St. Anne’s Credit Union    15

---

Central One Federal Credit Union    14

---

Rockland Federal Credit Union    14

---

Workers Credit Union    13

---

Greylock Federal Credit Union    10

---

St. Mary’s Credit Union    10

---

Webster First Federal Credit Union    10

---

First Citizens Credit Union    9

 

Credit Union Vol. Purchased Money Loans

---

Digital Federal Credit Union    $94,256,601

---

Workers Credit Union    $22,357,500

---

Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union   $16,829,350

---

Metro Credit Union    $12,985,000

---

Rockland Federal Credit Union    $12,396,500

---

St. Mary’s Credit Union   $7,403,000

---

Navigant Credit Union    $5,779,250

---

Freedom Credit Union    $5,616,700

---

Greylock Federal Credit Union    $5,558,064

---

Central One Federal Credit Union    $5,350,500

Mortgage Co. # Purchased Money Loans

---

Salem Five Mortgage Co.    91

---

New England Cert. Dev.    44

---

Ladder Capital    14

---

Mass Growth Capital Corp.    10

---

Morgan Stanley    9

---

Cape Islands Community Development 7

---

Endeavor Capital LLC    5

---

Farm Credit East ACA    5

---

First Boston Assoc.    4

---

Guaranteed Rate Inc.    4

 

Mortgage Co. Vol. Purchased Money Loans

---

Salem Five Mortgage Co.    $140,676,129

---

New England Cert. Dev.    $41,235,000

---

Toyota Motor Credit   $13,640,471

---

Nationwide Life Insurance Co.   $12,000,000

---

Morgan Stanley   $9,800,002

---

Walker & Dunlop LLC    $9,121,000

---

German American Capital   $9,000,001

---

Inlanta Mortgage Inc.   $8,768,000

---

Red Mortgage Capital LLC   $7,374,000

---

Cantor Commercial RE    $7,000,001

 

Multifamily Mortgages