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THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND REAL ESTATE WEEKLY FOR MASSACHUSETTS BY THE NUMBERS
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County close-up: Berkshire Spotlight: 6
While serving as principal and managing partner at Triad Alpha Partners, where he specialized in commercial development and investment, Jeff Carter saw an opening in the small balance commercial sector. He seized on the opportunity and founded Grand Coast Capital Group in January 2013.
IN PERSON
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WEEK OF MONDAY, JANUARY 15, 2018
RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE BY THE NUMBERS
Stockbridge For a change of pace, the most expensive home sold in the state last week was not in Boston, its toniest suburbs or the islands, but rather in distant Stockbridge. See page 9 for the rest of the top 5 most expensive homes sold in the state.
#1 Guaranteed Rate originated the most single-family purchase mortgages in the state last year.
2018 MORTGAGE OUTLOOK
MORTGAGE MARKET FACES TIGHTENING COMPETITION PURCHASES, REFIS EXPECTED TO DROP OFF; PRICES STILL HAVE ROOM TO GROW
11,225 In the first week of January there were 11,255 homes on the market in Massachusetts, the smallest inventory since 1995. Source: MLS
JIM MORRISON BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF
E
xperts agree that 2018 is going to be good – but not as good as last year – for the mortgage business nationwide, leaving Massachusetts lenders and originators to compete even harder for fewer residential loans. The Mortgage Banker Association (MBA) projected total U.S. mortgage originations to decrease from about $1.7 trillion in 2017 to $1.6 trillion in 2018. While the number of purchase mortgages is expected to increase in 2018, it will be offset by much lower refinancing activity due to what are expected to be modest increases in interest rates. The MBA’s chief economist Michael Fratantoni predicts mortgage rates will rise slightly, but remain below 5 percent in 2018. That’s enough to cut refinancing activity way back, but it isn’t expected to put enough downward pressure on prices to offset the upward Continued on Page 8
72 Despite earlier indicators of another year of positive growth, 2017 closed the books just 72 sales shy of 2016’s number of single-family home sales. The most homes sold in a single year was in 1999, when 65,716 homes were sold in the Bay State.
$365,000 However, 2017 was a record year for sale prices; the median sale price of a single-family home in Massachusetts hit $365,000, far exceeding the previous high set in 2005 at $355,000.
Top Mortgage Originators by Market Share in 2017
5.21%
Guaranteed Rate Inc.
$1.6 trillion The Mortgage Banker Association projects total U.S. mortgage originations to decrease from about $1.7 trillion in 2017 to $1.6 trillion in 2018. See page 9 for more predictions about the
Leader Bank
3.74%
Fairway Independent Mortgage
3.47%
Residential Mortgage Services Inc.
3.30%
LoanDepot.com
3.08%
mortgage market in 2018.
Bristol County Of the five Massachusetts counties analyzed by ATTOM Data Solutions in its recently released rent versus buy affordability study, buying was more affordable than renting only in Bristol County.
929 The number of foreclosures in the state continues its steep decline; fewer than 930 petitions were filed in 2017, a decrease of 33 percent from 2016.
Based on volume of single-family purchase loans
E X P L O R I N G E X PA N S I O N
Source: The Warren Group’s Mortgage Market Share Module
BUSINESS LENDING BOOMS
E-Commerce Players Set Massachusetts to Reshape Office Market Businesses Borrowing at Healthy Clip Steve Adams | Banker & Tradesman Staff
Bram Berkowitz | Banker & Tradesman Staff Unless otherwise noted, all data is sourced from The Warren Group’s Mortgage Market Share Module, Loan Originator Module, Statistics Module and/or proprietary database. For more information please visit www. thewarrengroup.com/business/datasolutions.
Commercial Real Estate PAGE 9
Banking & Lending PAGE 10