Fast 50 2017

Growth In Lending Fueled By Big Banks

Community Banks Prosper In Certain Market Segments

By Bram Berkowitz | September 19, 2017 | Reprints | Unlock Link | Print

Although as of this writing the state legislature had yet to approve a budget for fiscal year 2018 – an issue that is starting to impact future development and loan growth – Connecticut lenders are finding success in pockets of the state.

The Warren Group, publisher of The Commercial Record, reveals the 50 fastest growing lenders in Connecticut for the first six months of the year, compared with the same period in 2016.

Many of the top residential lenders that landed in the Fast 50 were from out of state.

Cleveland-based Key Bank, which closed its acquisition of First Niagara Bank and its 65 Connecticut branches during the second half of 2016, took the top spot. The bank went from issuing just $60,000 in residential loans through the first six months of 2016 to a whopping $53.5 million through the first half of this year via the acquisition.

Berkshire Bank, which has a large presence in Connecticut but is headquartered in Massachusetts, upped its origination volume from nearly $9 million in the first half of 2016 to more than $33 million in residential loans this year.

About a decade after the Great Recession – which resulted in a shrinking population, higher unemployment than the national average and the loss of corporations like General Electric – some smaller community banks say they are finally starting to reap the rewards of low interest rates.

Collinsville Savings Society was one of those banks, increasing its residential loan volume from about $2.5 million through 15 loans in 2016 to $7.8 million through 34 loans in the first half of this year.

“Finally, it’s been awhile,” Gary Roman, president and CEO of the bank, told The Commercial Record. “We are seeing a little building in the area around Canton. Burlington also has some nice projects under construction and we have taken advantage of our relationships with customers.”

Roman said Collinsville made some of these residential mortgages through people that they met through the bank’s commercial customers, who were building one- to four-unit multifamily homes.

Some of those customers took jumbo mortgages to purchase those homes, which fell in the $600,000 to $800,000 range, he said.

Roman did not attribute his bank’s portfolio growth to the economy; rather, he said it came from pent-up demand, with subdivisions that broke ground 10 years ago beginning to come online, and building permits in some areas slowly ticking upward.

Low rates, however, have not been able to overcome unemployment rates, the lack of new industry in Connecticut and the fact that people are aging, but not buying new homes.

Roman said the state budget crunch, leaving Connecticut as one of two states in the country that have yet to approve a budget for fiscal year 2018, which began July 1, is also taking a toll.

The budget struggles have put a “cloud” over developers that want to get aggressive and banks that are making loans based on growth of new homes and new buyers, he said.

“The economy is catching its breath,” Roman added. “It’s waiting for a lot of things to happen.”

Roman said there have been some positives, notably in the southeastern part of Connecticut. He is also hopeful about the Greater Hartford market, but how things play out in the state government ultimately will have an impact on what the state economy will look like in the future.

CRE Dominated By National Players

The top commercial real estate lenders in the Fast 50 appeared to tell a similar tale, with a lot of big, out-of-state banks like Citi, RBS Citizens Bank and JP Morgan taking top spots. But a few Connecticut-based community banks found their way on the list.

Guilford Savings Bank increased its commercial real estate lending from around $12.5 million through the first half of 2016 to nearly $30 million through the same time this year.

Newtown Savings Bank had roughly the same numbers, a trend that Tony Giobbi, the chief lending officer at the bank, credited to success in certain areas of the state such as Hamden in New Haven County.

According to Giobbi, Newtown Saving Bank’s team in Hamden closed more than $13 million in CRE loans through the first six months of the year.

“We have enjoyed strong CRE demand so far in 2017, benefitting from our expansion last year into the greater New Haven market,” he wrote in an email to The Commercial Record. “We are also experiencing growth in the bank’s traditional footprint reflecting existing customer expansion requirements, particularly in the Danbury market. Year-to-date, just under 50 percent of our CRE volume has come from refinancing opportunities – overall CRE demand has been robust and we expect the trend to continue for the rest of the year.”

The Fast 50 ranks the 50 fastest-growing loan providers in Connecticut, including mortgage and financial companies, banks, credit unions and other financial institutions. Rankings compare the number of loans through June 2016 to the number of loans made through June 2017, and the volume of loans through June 2016 to the volume of loans through June 2017. Rankings include purchase and non-purchase loans. Commercial rankings had a minimum of three loans in 2016 and a minimum of $1 million in loan volume in 2017. Residential rankings had a minimum of 10 loans in 2016 and a minimum of $2 million in volume in 2017. Residential includes one- to four-families and condominiums. All rankings are statewide. All data is sourced by The Warren Group from public records, which may contain errors. For more information please contact Data Solutions at 617-896-5365.

Residential by Number of Loans

  1.  Movement Mortgage LLC    2016: 17    2017: 111    Percent Change: 552.94%
  2.  GuardHill Financial Corp.    2016: 14    2017: 83    Percent Change: 492.86%
  3.  Mortgage Master Inc.    2016: 10    2017: 57    Percent Change: 470.00%
  4.  AFC Mortgage Group LLC    2016: 11    2017: 37    Percent Change: 236.36%
  5.  InterContinental Capital Group Inc.    2016: 15    2017: 46    Percent Change: 206.67%
  6.  Mortgage Lender of America LLC    2016: 12    2017: 32    Percent Change: 166.67%
  7.  Reverse Mortgage Funding LLC    2016: 10    2017: 25    Percent Change: 150.00%
  8.  Collinsville Savings Society   2016:  15    2017: 34    Percent Change: 126.67%
  9.  Capital One Bank    2016: 47    2017: 106    Percent Change: 125.53%
  10.  Ridgewood Savings Bank    2016: 19    2017: 37    Percent Change: 94.74%
  11.  eMortgage Management LLC    2016: 17    2017: 33    Percent Change: 94.12%
  12.  Bestway Mortgage Corp.    2016: 19    2017: 36   Percent Change:  89.47%
  13.  Finex Credit Union    2016: 16    2017: 30    Percent Change: 87.50%
  14.  Sachem Capital Partners LLC    2016: 49    2017: 90    Percent Change: 83.67%
  15.  Colony American Finance Lender LLC    2016: 12    2017: 22    Percent Change: 83.33%
  16.  Fairway Independent Mortgage   2016:  74    2017: 129    Percent Change: 74.32%
  17.  Caliber Home Loans    2016: 122    2017: 211   Percent Change:  72.95%
  18.  National Iron Bank   2016:  21    2017: 36    Percent Change: 71.43%
  19.  FDC Federal Credit Union    2016: 21    2017: 36    Percent Change: 71.43%
  20.  Cross Country Mortgage Inc.    2016: 10    2017: 17    Percent Change: 70.00%
  21.  American Internet Mortgage    2016: 19    2017: 32    Percent Change: 68.42%
  22.  Scient Federal Credit Union    2016: 30    2017: 50    Percent Change: 66.67%
  23.  PFS Inc.    2016: 13    2017: 21    Percent Change: 61.54%
  24.  Cornerstone Community Federal Credit Union   2016:  10    2017: 16    Percent Change: 60.00%
  25.  Dutch Point Credit Union    2016: 72    2017: 113    Percent Change: 56.94%

 

Residential by Volume of Loans

  1.  Key Bank N.A.    2016: $60,000    2017: $53,543,423    Percent Change: 89139.04%
  2.  Network Funding Corporation    2016: $350,399    2017: $10,161,126    Percent Change: 2799.87%
  3.  CBRE Capital Markets Inc.    2016: $3,535,000    2017: $60,940,000    Percent Change: 1623.90%
  4.  Veterans United Home Loans    2016: $395,512    2017: $6,632,443    Percent Change: 1576.93%
  5.  City National Bank    2016: $970,000    2017: $10,565,000    Percent Change: 989.18%
  6.  Greenlight Loans    2016: $753,700    2017: $5,198,734    Percent Change: 589.76%
  7.  GuardHill Financial Corp.    2016: $7,924,940    2017: $49,011,646    Percent Change: 518.45%
  8.  Movement Mortgage LLC    2016: $4,099,412    2017: $24,283,260    Percent Change: 492.36%
  9.  Velocity Commercial Capital LLC    2016: $1,320,300    2017: $5,639,200    Percent Change: 327.12%
  10.  AFC Mortgage Group LLC    2016: $2,360,360    2017: $9,589,440    Percent Change: 306.27%
  11.  First National Bank of Long Island    2016: $3,964,250    2017: $15,632,750    Percent Change: 294.34%
  12.  Resmac Inc.    2016: $1,221,160    2017: $4,534,516    Percent Change: 271.33%
  13.  Berkshire Bank    2016: $8,963,558    2017: $33,084,824    Percent Change: 269.10%
  14.  InterContinental Capital Group Inc.    2016: $3,596,555    2017: $13,035,454    Percent Change: 262.44%
  15.  PeoplesBank    2016: $2,070,600   2017:  $7,504,200    Percent Change: 262.42%
  16.  Mortgage Lender of America LLC    2016: $2,018,470    2017: $7,045,702    Percent Change: 249.06%
  17.  Firstrust Bank    2016: $1,542,776   2017:  $5,338,670    Percent Change: 246.04%
  18.  Collinsville Savings Society    2016: $2,533,425    2017: $7,800,850    Percent Change: 207.92%
  19.  General Electric Credit Union    2016: $1,100,025    2017: $3,187,200    Percent Change: 189.74%
  20.  Ethos Lending LLC    2016: $2,440,300    2017: $6,925,280    Percent Change: 183.79%
  21.  Mortgage Master Inc.    2016: $5,632,534    2017: $15,616,476    Percent Change: 177.25%
  22.  Huntington National Bank    2016: $3,053,700    2017: $8,187,600    Percent Change: 168.12%
  23.  Sachem Capital Partners LLC    2016: $8,334,000    2017: $21,163,000    Percent Change: 153.94%
  24.  Cornerstone Community Federal Credit Union   2016:  $1,271,450    2017: $3,223,905    Percent Change: 153.56%
  25.  Ridgewood Savings Bank   2016: $15,350,400    2017: $35,330,750    Percent Change: 130.16%

Commercial by Number of Loans

  1.  Velocity Commercial Capital LLC    2016: 5   2017: 21    Percent Change:  320.00%
  2.  Citicorp Mortgage Inc.    2016: 3    2017: 7    Percent Change:  133.33%
  3.  Guaranteed Rate Inc.    2016: 3    2017: 7    Percent Change:  133.33%
  4.  First World Mortgage    2016: 3    2017: 7    Percent Change:  133.33%
  5.  Homeowners Finance Co.    2016: 4    2017: 9    Percent Change:  125.00%
  6.  JP Morgan Chase Bank   2016:  9    2017: 19   Percent Change:  111.11%
  7.  New England Certified Development Corp.    2016: 3    2017: 6    Percent Change:  100.00%
  8.  Milford Bank    2016: 13    2017: 26    Percent Change:  100.00%
  9.  Newtown Savings Bank    2016: 22   2017:  42    Percent Change:  90.91%
  10.  RBS Citizens Bank NA    2016: 15    2017: 28    Percent Change:  86.67%
  11.  Arbor Commercial Mortgage    2016: 3    2017: 5    Percent Change:  66.67%
  12.  Community Investment Corp.    2016: 9    2017: 15    6Percent Change:  6.67%
  13.  Union Savings Bank    2016: 21    2017: 35    Percent Change:  66.67%
  14.  Connecticut Housing Finance Authority    2016: 8    2017: 13    Percent Change:  62.50%
  15.  Quicken Loan Inc.    2016: 5    2017: 8    Percent Change:  60.00%
  16.  Country Bank for Savings    2016: 6    2017: 9    Percent Change:  50.00%
  17.  Collinsville Savings Society    2016: 7    2017: 10    Percent Change:  42.86%
  18.  Nutmeg State Federal Credit Union   2016:  5    2017: 7    Percent Change:  40.00%
  19.  Simsbury Bank and Trust Co.    2016: 8    2017: 11    Percent Change:  37.50%
  20.  Start Community Bank    2016: 8    2017: 11    Percent Change:  37.50%
  21.  Sachem Capital Partners LLC    2016: 11    2017: 15    Percent Change:  36.36%
  22.  Homebridge Financial Services Inc.    2016: 3    2017: 4    Percent Change:  33.33%
  23.  Litchfield Bancorp    2016: 7    2017: 9    Percent Change:  28.57%
  24.  First Bank of Greenwich    2016: 4    2017: 5    Percent Change:  25.00%
  25.  Torrington Savings Bank    2016: 9    2017: 11    Percent Change:  22.22%

Commercial by Volume of Loans

  1.  Red Mortgage Capital LLC    2016: $4,750     2017: $24,493,400    Percent Change: 515550.53%
  2.  Citicorp Mortgage Inc.   2016:  $3,337,713     2017: $397,627,701    Percent Change: 11813.18%
  3.  RBS Citizens Bank NA    2016: $40,282,285     2017: $1,408,779,470    Percent Change: 3397.27%
  4.  Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co.    2016: $55,780,874     2017: $1,803,984,000    Percent Change: 3134.05%
  5.  JP Morgan Chase Bank    2016: $121,668,125     2017: $3,438,857,924    Percent Change: 2726.42%
  6.  Florence Bank    2016: $480,000     2017: $5,693,000    Percent Change: 1086.04%
  7.  PNC Bank    2016: $1,407,250     2017: $16,617,530    Percent Change: 1080.85%
  8.  Celtic Bank    2016: $755,200     2017: $7,334,600    871.21%
  9.  Capital One Multifamily Finance LLC    2016: $7,920,000     2017: $76,052,000    Percent Change: 860.25%
  10.  Local Inititatives Support Corp    2016: $670,000     2017: $4,947,402    Percent Change: 638.42%
  11.  Farm Credit Services    2016: $350,000     2017: $2,155,000    Percent Change: 515.71%
  12.  New England Certified Development Corp.    2016: $1,142,000     2017: $6,577,001    Percent Change: 475.92%
  13.  Velocity Commercial Capital LLC    2016: $1,158,625     2017: $5,096,050    Percent Change: 339.84%
  14.  Live Oak Banking Co.    2016: $2,036,000     2017: $7,630,000    Percent Change: 274.75%
  15.  Nutmeg State Federal Credit Union    2016: $1,356,750     2017: $4,778,500    Percent Change: 252.20%
  16.  Oritani Bank    2016: $8,465,000     2017: $28,715,000    Percent Change: 239.22%
  17.  Guaranteed Rate Inc.    2016: $768,100   2017:  $2,472,655   Percent Change:  221.92%
  18.  Quicken Loan Inc.    2016: $721,521     2017: $2,167,769    Percent Change: 200.44%
  19.  Milford Bank    2016: $11,395,000     2017: $30,605,250    Percent Change: 168.58%
  20.  Newtown Savings Bank   2016:  $12,577,700     2017: $29,894,484    Percent Change: 137.68%
  21.  Guilford Savings Bank    2016: $12,586,085     2017: $29,280,935    Percent Change: 132.65%
  22.  First World Mortgage    2016: $646,440     2017: $1,497,160    Percent Change: 131.60%
  23.  Total Mortgage Services    2016: $689,000     2017: $1,527,928    Percent Change: 121.76%
  24.  Rockland Trust Co.    2016: $5,000,000     2017: $11,031,000    Percent Change: 120.62%
  25.  Farm Credit East ACA    2016: $6,823,355     2017: $15,024,127    Percent Change: 120.19%