In spite of persistently low rates and a competitive lending landscape, bankers are feeling optimistic about their prospects for commercial lending in 2016, according to a recent survey from Sageworks.

Of the bankers the firm surveyed, 59 percent said they planned to make more (51 percent) or significantly more (8 percent) commercial loans in the year ahead. Sageworks said that 30 percent of bankers responded that they plan to make “about the same number of commercial loans,” 5.3 percent said they planned to make “fewer commercial loans” and 0.3 percent said they planned to make “significantly fewer commercial loans” this year.

The firm surveyed 767 bankers in roles including executive management, lending, credit risk management and accounting, from approximately 456 unique financial institutions. The poll covered banks and credit unions across 49 states ranging from $38 million to $12 billion. Sageworks also noted that all the respondents were clients and none randomly selected.

“We’ve seen in the industry a move towards [commercial and industrial] and commercial lending over the last few years. I think some of that was moving out of reliance on commercial real estate as a product set,” commented Tim McPeak, a senior consultant with Sageworks.

But that growth might not come without a few pains. Noting an interagency statement on risk management within commercial real estate lending issued late last year, McPeak said that with more banks chasing a finite number of deals, other types of commercial lending were likely to heat up, as well.

“We’re still in a pretty compressed interest rate environment, and all these banks looking at the C&I area are probably going to create some pretty competitive markets out there, so though they hope to grow the book, I think they’re going to find it’s going to pretty competitive in terms of pricing,” he said.

But on the whole, McPeak felt the survey results were cause for optimism.

“I just find it encouraging because I think the bankers’ sentiment is indicative of something larger if they’re feeling like they can grow their commercial portfolios,” he said. “In spite of the challenges out there I found that to be an encouraging thing to see.”