2019 TOP LENDERS SEE PAGE 10
THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND REAL ESTATE WEEKLY FOR MASSACHUSETTS BY THE NUMBERS
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County close-up: Suffolk Spotlight: West Roxbury
IN PERSON
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Construction is expected to begin this spring on a landmark project that will change the view for Massachusetts Turnpike commuters and Newbury Street pedestrians alike. Samuels & Assoc.’s Abe Menzin led the design and permitting for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s parcel 12 air rights project.
WEEK OF MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2020
RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE BY THE NUMBERS
TOP LENDERS
63 percent The share of Greater Boston residents who support the growth of in-law units. See Week on the Web on page 2. Source: Zillow
$2.1 million The price cut taken by the fifth home in this week’s Gossip Report. See page 9. Source: Lamacchia Realty
13,546 The number of housing units in West Roxbury. See the Town Spotlight in By the Numbers on page 6. Source: U.S. Census Bureau
$12.28 million
Lenders across Massachusetts benefitted from a big surge in demand for mortgage refinancings.
The price of the most expensive home in this week’s Gossip Report. See page 9. Source: The Warren Group
-3.7 percent The year-over-year change in Suffolk County’s median singlefamily sale price. See By the Numbers on page 6. Source: The Warren Group’s Statistics Module
7,494 square feet The size of the largest home in this week’s Gossip Report. See page 9. Source: The Warren Group
$1.1 million The median sale price of a singlefamily home in Jamaica Plain in January. See By the Numbers on page 6. Source: The Warren Group’s Statistics Module
2019: THE YEAR OF THE REFI Big Interest Rate Drops Caused Demand Surge
BY DIANE MCLAUGHLIN BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF
O
nce mortgage rates dropped by more than 50 points over May and June last year, whatever lenders had forecast at the beginning of the year, they soon pivoted, leading to the one of the biggest surges in refi activity since the Great Recession.
Thanks to a confluence of factors, including highly publicized Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped from 4.51 percent as of Jan. 3, 2019, to a low of 3.49 percent as of Sept. 5 before closing the year out at 3.72 percent. “The challenge we have in the mortgage business is one of a highly volatile and unpredictable environment, which is caused by a volatile political environment and global economic environment,” said Jay Tuli, executive vice president of retail banking and residential lending at Leader Bank.
As conditions changed, several lenders rose to meet the opportunity.
Citizens, DCU, Quicken Topped Peers
Every year, The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, compiles the top 10 mortgage lenders among Massachusetts’ credit unions, banks and mortgage companies, ranked by number of loans and loan volume in several origination categories. All loans were originated in 2019. Citizens Bank led its bank peers in 2019 with $2.4 billion in refinancing activity for Continued on Page 10
COMMERCIAL INTERESTS
PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE
Focus Turns to Disaster Prep Plans
Originator Module, Statistics Module
Most Severely Ill at Highest Risk if Facilities Overwhelmed
and/or proprietary database.
By Scott Van Voorhis | Banker & Tradesman Columnist
By Steve Adams | Banker & Tradesman Staff
Unless otherwise noted, all data is sourced from The Warren Group’s Mortgage Market Share Module, Loan
State’s Shrinking Hospital Property Managers Bed Count Raises Risks Prepare for the Worst
For more information please visit www.thewarrengroup.com/business/ datasolutions.
Commercial Real Estate PAGE 3
Banking & Lending PAGE 7