It’s been a long, challenging couple of years for Connecticut’s lending institutions.

In many ways the consumer-facing aspect of banking hasn’t changed much. Community banks and credit unions are as committed to their founding ideals as they have ever been – they’re still taking local deposits, making local loans and serving as a valuable financial resource to the residents of the state. They continue to sponsor town days, donate to nonprofits and award scholarships.

But behind the scenes, from the Dodd-Frank fallout to prolonged low interest rates to TRID regulations to cybersecurity issues, the financial industry has changed in ways that we’re still trying to parse. Margins are tighter and interest income isn’t likely to come back any time soon – everyone is feeling squeezed from all sides, especially the smaller institutions.

And yet somehow they are making it work. This issue of The Commercial Record contains the annual Fast 50, a ranking of the fastest growing lenders in the residential and commercial real estate industries. Comparing the first six months of 2016 to the same timeframe last year, these lenders cross all categories – banks, credit unions, mortgage companies and others.

The volume and number counts include both purchase and nonpurchase loans; portfolio compositions vary by company. Some cite robust refi growth this year as helping boost their rankings; others report moving strongly into underserved populations in their areas; still others say they’ve expanded their geographic territories and are seeing robust growth outside of their usual haunts.

Low interest rates have held on for so long one might assume any homeowner who was going to refi has already done so, but no, say local lenders – the refi market, while no longer at its peak of several years ago, remains strong.

On the other side of the low-interest coin, mortgages are more affordable than they’ve ever been – a boon for homebuyers. As the real estate recovery has ever so slowly gained traction in Connecticut, the sales figures provided by The Warren Group, publisher of The Commercial Record, show local lenders are taking full advantage.

There’s also opportunity in commercial development. The parameters placed on the Fast 50 resulted in a moderately paced 20 instead of a Fast 50; a disappointing outcome for the state’s commercial development scene, but illustrative of space to grow for savvy lenders.

It’s a strange new world for financial institutions – particularly in the residential real estate sector – but the Nutmeg State’s lenders are a smart bunch, and they’re already figuring it out.

Congratulations to this year’s Fast 50 – keep up the good work, and we’ll see you in 2017.