Massachusetts’ top-performing loan originators in 2025 found success in a volatile year thanks to investments from the banks, credit unions and mortgage companies the work for. iStock illustration

Massachusetts’ top-performing loan originators in 2025 found success in a volatile year thanks to investments from their employers.

And those same banks, credit unions and mortgage companies think those strategies will be key to recruiting and retaining talent from their competitors going forward.

Every year, Banker & Tradesman analyzes public mortgage data collected by its publisher, The Warren Group, to rank who made the most residential purchase and refinance loans, and who did the most business in dollar terms. LOs are ranked statewide and by region.

Leader Bank saw six of its loan originators among the top 10 loan originators by volume across all of Massachusetts in 2025. That’s despite a housing market that year was dominated by interest rate volatility due to economic uncertainty – two things that caused prospective buyers to hit pause, on their searches, or booted them from the market altogether when they couldn’t afford to buy.

New Products Helped Close Deals

Part of that success, said bank President Jay Tuli, was a new product, “Purchase Pass,” that gives buyers a lending commitment that allows them to close a purchase with speed. That can be the difference between a buyer with a mortgage beating a cash buyer.

“We’ve really been developing a handful of new products to make us more competitive in the purchase market,” Tuli said. “In 2025 we saw the amalgamation of a bunch of these products being live and working in the market.”

Additionally, the bank has expanded its bridge loan product offering, and let existing customers can buy down their mortgage rate utilizing their deposit history at the bank.

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At Rate, the company introduced more products than it has ever before according to company President Shant Banosian – who was the top loan originator by volume in Massachusetts across all types of lenders.

“We’re able to do loans for self-employed borrowers utilizing bank statement products,” he said. “[Debt-service coverage ratio] loans for investors, asset-based programs for people that can utilize assets rather than income. We made great strides in our reverse mortgage space. We increased our reverse mortgage origination. We dramatically increased how much home equity loan and home equity line of credit products we’re offering, as well as our traditional products.”

Rate also introduced its “Power Bid” product, a pre-commitment for lending that can help buyers compete with cash buyers, in the same mode as Leader Bank’s Purchase Pass.

Even for credit union LOs, having a diverse and unique product suite helped attract customers.

Workers Credit Union senior mortgage loan officer James Hirbour was the top-producing credit union-affiliated loan originator by volume statewide. While some products can be complicated,  such as those attached to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, Hirbour said, Workers Credit Union has added in-house products that offer alternatives. He credited these products with helping get deals done, and earning trust from Realtors who go on to recommend Workers Credit Union to their buyer clients.

With competition for customers increasing as the pool of homebuyers shrinks thanks to affordability challenges, product innovation can be crucial to bringing in more customers, Leader Bank’s Tuli said.

“It’s a very competitive market, and to keep having new products that allow clients to solve their needs or give them an edge, that’s super critical,” Tuli said. “With our loan office, we’re very lucky that they adapt with these products quickly and embrace them.”

Support Key for LO Success

Along with new product offerings, lenders interviewed for this story said the internal support their loan originators receive was key to attracting and retaining LOs last year, and unlocking their success.

“Our goal is to try to attract the most qualified, talented loan officers, but the way to do that is by having a platform where they can be successful, and that’s both pricing, but it’s also brought up in speed and service,” Tuli said.

Leader will also look to focus in on its branding as it expands its branch footprint in 2026, he added.

Rate has also supported its loan originators by investing in technology and providing high-quality training for its staff. The company is heavily invested in artificial intelligence according to Banosian. Rate also introduced an in-house training program for its loan originators.

Lending executives say adding support for their loan originators has helped recruit new ones, and power their increased success. iStock illustration

“We’ve always believed in training and sharing success, and so we meet with our loan officers on a weekly basis through webinars and Zoom calls,” Banosian said. “We’re sharing the tools that we’re rolling out and how they can utilize them to drive a better experience. We bring them in all across the country.”

Rate, whose headquarters is in Chicago, flies its loan originators across the country in every quarter to train them on best practices and what’s helping other LOs, Banosian said. It also runs “recharge” events in its local markets on a similar theme, he said, “just make sure that everybody’s adapting with the market, with all the different tools that we have available.”

But loan originators also want their employers to be proactive. Last year was Hirbour’s first at Workers Credit Union, and he noted that he surpassed his new employer’s expectations. But instead of being reactive to his success, Workers was proactive in supporting him.

“They would put more people around us,” he said. “They would increase our team. They would basically do whatever it took to succeed and keep us able to go out there and find business and keep our clients. The proof is in the numbers.”

Tough Market Created Ways to Help Buyers

Especially in the current market, a seller’s confidence in their buyer and ease of closing can be crucial. Massachusetts remains struggling for inventory which is driving up confidence.

“Speed and certainty matter to everybody,” Banosian said. “It helps the buyers win. So we’ve always tried to lead with speed and certainty.”

And even though average mortgage rates fell by nearly three-quarters of a percentage point last year, overall, according to Freddie Mac, buyers were still left struggling, particularly when it came to racking up the required down payment and other key closing costs.

That helped push the typical age of the American first-time buyers to an all-time high of 40 years old last year, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors.

Sam Lattof

“The people that can come in and they have great credit, they’re fewer and far between because the economy is tough,” Greylock Federal Credit Union Senior Vice President Tara McClusky said. “It’s just getting harder. A lot of the people that we’re helping, we can’t rush them. It’s not about speed. It’s more about quality.”

But this situation also created an opportunity for LOs to help their clients.

A quality loan originator can come in the form of helping buyers find grants or aiding them in boosting their credit score, McClusky said, adding that Greylock FCU provides a home-buying class that it produces internally.

“A lot of our loan officers are certified coaches as well,” she said. “There’s tons of support to meet them [homebuyers] where they are, get them to the finish line.”

While some buyers can have an expeditious buying process, those buyers are in the minority for Greylock, McClusky said.

“We certainly don’t want a long, drawn-out process for our members, and we try to expedite where we can, especially for the people that don’t need the specialization,” she said. “We can push a loan through quickly for them, but again, that’s not the majority of who we’re helping.”