Top Lenders

Total Mortgage Services, Citizens Take Top Lender Spots

High Volumes Forced Lenders to Invest

By Diane McLaughlin
Commercial Record Staff

With low rates driving mortgage refinance activity again last year, lenders also saw a strong demand for purchase mortgages as lifestyle changes brought on by the pandemic continued to drive prospective homebuyers.

“2021 was like no year we’ve ever seen in the mortgage business, especially in the Fairfield County market,” Michael Daversa, vice president and sales manager at Providence-based Citizens, said in an email to The Registry Review. “[H]ome values were increasing almost monthly, new offers were accepted only after multiple-bid situations, clients paid over-asking price in many situations, appraisal turn-times were at all-time high levels, and sellers were in complete control.”

As lenders like Citizens managed the unprecedented lending environment, had to adjust to meet the needs of borrowers in Connecticut’s competitive housing market, the level of activity created challenges

Every year, The Warren Group compiles the top 10 mortgage lenders among Connecticut’s credit unions, banks and mortgage companies, ranked by number of loans and loan volume in several origination categories. All loans were originated in 2021.

Lenders had about 33,300 single-family purchase mortgages in Connecticut in 2021, according to The Warren Group, publisher of The Commercial Record. Single-family purchase mortgages increased by 1.7 percent over 2020 and by 19.1 percent compared to 2019 before the pandemic started.

While the state saw a small increase over 2020 in the number of single-family purchase loans, the volume of mortgages increased year-over-year by 14 percent, driven in part by higher home prices in Connecticut. The state had $13.36 billion in single-family mortgages in 2021 and $11.7 billion in 2020. Before the pandemic in 2019, the state had $8.49 billion in single-family mortgages.

Navy Federal Credit Union led credit unions with $103.3 million in single-family purchase mortgages and nearly 300 loans. East Hartford-based American Eagle Financial Credit Union was second among credit unions with 190 single-family mortgages for nearly $54 million in volume. American Eagle had the most condominium mortgages among credit unions, originating 43 loans.

Milford-based Total Mortgage Services originated more than 1,600 single-family purchase mortgages, the most in Connecticut, and $552.8 million in volume, the most among mortgage companies. The company also had $90.7 million in condominium purchase mortgages and 455 loans, the most among lenders last year.

Citizens led all lenders in 2021 with $563.3 million in single-family purchase volumes. The bank originated more than 900 loans. The Rhode Island-based bank also had $49.5 million in condominium purchase mortgages last year, second among bank lenders. JPMorgan Chase had the highest condominium purchase volume in 2021 with $54.6 million.

High Loan Volumes Challenged Lenders

Much of the purchase activity has been driven by how the COVID pandemic has changed what buyers and homeowners need and want from their homes, said Citizens’ Daversa.

“New homebuyers who were looking at working from home permanently, or on a limited basis in the office, could now look in all areas of Connecticut or even in the Northeast as commuting was no longer an issue,” Daversa said. “Existing homeowners in Connecticut now had the time, due to lack of commuting, to either renovate their existing home or look for a larger home for their families locally or in different areas of the state.”

With the high number of loan originations last year, Citizens’ main challenges included delivering a smooth process and managing the time to close the loan, Daversa said.

Like other lenders, Citizens had to extend rate-locks and closing dates, he said, while setting expectations around the time frame for the loan with clients, something the bank in a typical lending environment would not have to do.

Lenders also had to consider the expectations of referral partners, Daversa said. The bank prioritizes purchase transactions, and Daversa said the bank worked to close those loans on-time while satisfying clients and referral partners.

Citizens Invested to Meet Refi Boom

But keeping up with refinancing was a challenge, Daversa said, and the bank saw longer turnaround times compared to purchase loans.

Citizens had nearly 3,300 refinance loans among all residential types of properties, second only to Webster Bank among bank lenders, according to The Warren Group. Rocket Mortgage had the most residential refinance loans with about 11,500.

“This was a very challenging time for us because it was a bit more difficult to keep our [loan originators], clients and referral sources satisfied due to the longer processes,” Daversa said.

To meet the demand, Citizens made several internal changes in 2021, Daversa said, including upgrading its loan origination system, distributing new laptops to employees with the news operating systems, hiring additional operations staff, and changing several existing processes to keep up with the demand.

This year already looks different for mortgage lenders a mortgage rates have increased. Daversa pointed to more uncertainties for the mortgage industry with rate increases expected from the Federal Reserve, the war in Ukraine, inflation issues and a real estate market with plenty of buyers but limited inventory.

Daversa said he expects lower rates to lead to fewer refinances in 2022, while the purchase market remains competitive, with home values increasing and sellers continuing to entertain multiple offers, many over asking price.

“We are in a good position to succeed because many of our LOs have longstanding relationships with local realtors, CPAs and money managers,” Daversa said. “This is very important in a very competitive housing market.”

2021 Top Lenders

For more than 145 years, The Warren Group has been the most trusted and reliable source in New England for real estate property data. The company maintains the most comprehensive property database today due to its long-standing relationships with town assessors, clerks and county registries as well as its extensive daily collection of transaction records in the field. Transactional data is collected daily, verified, matched to the appropriate property record and posted weekly; it includes sales transfers, mortgages and refinances. 

The data in this report represents purchase and non-purchase loans made by banks, credit unions and mortgage companies in Connecticut in 2021. Category breakdowns include purchase mortgages for single-family, multifamily (two-family and three-family combined), condominium and commercial properties, as well as non-purchase residential loans (includes refinances and HELOCs). Residential and commercial data are not combined in any reports. The commercial data in these reports caps all loans at $1 billion. Each category ranks the top 10 lenders by both dollar volume and number of loans. 

For more information, please contact The Warren Group’s customer service department at customerservice@thewarrengroup.com or 617-896-5367.