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Community Banks Saw CRE Loan Growth
Northeast CT Vaults Bank into Fastest-Growing Status

Connecticut’s Fastest-Growing Lenders of 2023, Ranked

By Nika Cataldo
Commercial Record Staff

The commercial real estate lending environment may be a tough one right now, but a Massachusetts community bank is making headway in Connecticut as one of the year’s fastest-growing commercial real estate lenders.

Oxford, Massachusetts-based bankHometown slotted into The Commercial Record’s Fast 50 rankings this year in sixth place by dollar volume of commercial real estate mortgages.

The Fast 50, compiled from data collected by The Warren Group, publisher of The Commercial Record, shows the 50 fastest-growing lenders in Connecticut for the first half of 2023, compared to the same period in 2022.

With only five branches operating in Connecticut, bankHometown saw $27.2 million in commercial loans in the first six months of 2023, which was a 252 percent leap from the $7.7 million it recorded in-state in the same period in 2022.

Quick Turnaround of CRE Loans

This achievement is possible due to the bank’s strong business model of three banks in strong markets in Massachusetts and Connecticut, the bank’s top executive said. The Hometown Financial Group has the $1.4 billion-asset bankHometown that operates in northeastern Connecticut and Central Massachusetts, the $1.8 billion-asset bankESB that services Western Massachusetts, and the $1.4-billion Abington Bank which serves Eastern Massachusetts.

“We’re a $4.5 billion organization. The way I describe it is, it’s the best of both worlds. We have the size, capacity, and the brain power to do larger, more complicated CRE loans,” Rob Morton, president and CEO of the $1.4 billion asset bankHometown, said.

Scroll down to see our rankings of Connecticut’s fastest-growing lenders of 2022.

“But because we’re a collaboration of three community banks, we still have the approachability and the responsiveness, the heart and soul of a community bank. So that is driving our success in all markets, especially in Connecticut. Because we can do the bigger deals, and we can get them done quicker than the large banks,” he added.

BankHometown also benefits on its “deal discussion process” which improves efficiency in loan originations, as well as enhances borrower experience and adds personalization based on the clients’ needs.

The process involves collection of certain financial information from the borrower, which will be the basis of internal discussion between credit and commercial loan officers and underwriters. The team will collectively agree on the terms and conditions and covenants of the loan – and a tailored term sheet will be presented to the borrower just days later.

Personalized Lending

It’s not typical of other banks’ operations, but Morton said it works for bankHometown to have credit and commercial lending officers work together and collaborate to first avoid wasting time and energy on loans that are unlikely to get approved, and second to save the customer time and frustration as they would know early on if the deal will push through, instead of experiencing time-consuming back-and-forth as normal origination process goes.

In some cases, these back-and-forth processes with larger banks can change the terms of what was originally discussed, Morton said.

“In some instances, the lender will quote what he or she thinks the deal will be and then the credit department will change it. The lender then has to go back to the borrower and say, ‘here’s the deal’. That can be a very frustrating and aggravating process for the customer,” he said.

“For bankHometown, people have more confidence that we are going to deliver the loan that was discussed on the front end. So, I think that’s a competitive advantage that we have,” he said. “When everyone agrees, [the loan] goes through an underwriting process that is quicker and more seamless.”

Awareness of the bankHometown brand and its capabilities has also grown in the Connecticut market, the bank’s CEO said.

Cross-Border CRE Spillover

With development and land in Massachusetts becoming more expensive, Morton said, some investors are opting to move out of the Bay State and settle in Connecticut to build multifamily investment properties, a bright spot in commercial lending.

“We are seeing growth in the multifamily apartment sector. We have a customer who, historically, has been building a portfolio in Western Massachusetts. But due to the increase in prices [due to high interest rates], he has focused to grow his portfolio in Killingly,” Morton said.

Killingly hosts one of bankHometown’s five Connecticut branches, after Brooklyn, Putnam, Grosvenordale, and Woodstock, part of its 16-branch network. Morton said Killingly is a central location where “the community can benefit from the growth that’s been pushing out from Massachusetts to Connecticut.”

Soft CRE Market

The bank is seeing that commercial real estate will continue to be a “soft market” – with more sellers than buyers – in both Massachusetts and Connecticut in the next two years, citing that the high-interest-rate environment that Morton thinks will “stay longer than people realize.”

“I think the Fed futures had said that interest rates will be down 125 basis points by the end of next year. But I’m not sure about this. Unless there is a real hit to the economy, I think the Fed is going to be reluctant to move interest rates lower anytime soon,” Morton said. “I anticipate a soft market for at least the next two years, but I could be wrong. But if it perks up, we’re ready to go.”

Even for bankHometown, growing its commercial real estate lending in the first half of this year would not necessarily translate to an acceleration in lending the second half of 2023 or even next year. The bank is not expecting a growth pattern emerging in commercial real estate lending moving forward, and instead is seeing a modest slowdown in take up in the coming months.

The bank originated two large hotel loans in Connecticut over the past year. Morton said that bankHometown is getting closer to its internal policy limit in lending within the hotel industry – which is a lower limit compared to lending to other sectors – and noted that such scenario can lead to “more selective” lending in that sector.

Morton said bankHometown’s commercial borrowers in Connecticut are in multifamily rentals, hotel and hospitality, storage units, as well as large classic retail supercenters “with strong anchors and great locations.”

The bank only has three office loans in its commercial lending portfolio – two in Massachusetts and one in Rhode Island.


The Fast 50 ranks the 50 fastest-growing loan providers in Connecticut, including mortgage and financial companies, banks, credit unions and other financial institutions. Sourced from real estate data analytics firm The Warren Group’s mortgage market share module, these rankings compare the number of loans through June 2022 to the number of loans made through June 2023, and the volume of loans through June 2022 to the volume of loans through June 2023. Rankings include purchase and non-purchase loans. Commercial rankings had a minimum of three loans in each year. Residential rankings had a minimum of five loans and a minimum of $1 million in volume in each year. 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 Volume of Loans

Rank Lender Name 2023 Volume 2022 Volume Percent Change
1 Connecticut Housing Finance Authority $29,855,697 $6,337,389 371%
2 BMO Harris Bank $16,401,740 $5,163,100 218%
3 Meadowbrook Financial Mortgage Bankers Corp. $14,658,180 $5,303,086 176%
4 Premier Mortgage Assoc. $7,466,350 $3,586,016 108%
6 Connecticut Lending Partners LLC $4,630,000 $2,235,000 107%
7  State of Connecticut $12,615,611 $6,139,284 105%
5 Longbridge Financial LLC $9,764,550 $5,143,500 90%
8 CMG Mortgage Inc $12,602,040 $6,902,996 83%
9 RCN Capital LLC $25,541,264 $14,188,890 80%
10 Newtek Small Business Finance Inc $10,648,000 $5,936,000 79%
11 OCMBC Inc. $8,922,623 $5,277,884 69%
12 E Mortgage Management  LLC $7,205,072 $4,466,139 61%
13 ABL Residential Credit Acquisitions LLC $3,913,100 $2,455,250 59%
14 Sound Federal Credit Union $7,251,000 $4,704,500 54%
15 Mortgage Equity Partners LLC $16,178,535 $10,823,290 49%
16 Pinnacle Financial Services LLC $23,755,000 $16,143,250 47%
17 Discover Bank $12,080,425 $8,374,131 44%
18 Flagstar Bank $81,574,674 $56,803,678 44%
19 Homeowners Finance Co. $3,839,949 $2,779,075 38%
20 Continental Mortgage Banking $3,101,248 $2,261,519 37%
21 USA Veterans Administration $3,155,955 $2,390,415 32%
22 M&T Bank, N.A. $67,792,994 $53,812,983 26%
23 Broadview Capital LLC $7,473,100 $5,998,750 25%
24 Primelending $44,941,787 $36,408,808 23%
25 MLB Residential Lending LLC $2,447,608 $2,108,296 16%
Residential by Number of Loans

Rank Lender Name 2023 Number 2022 Number Percent Change
1 Connecticut Housing Finance Authority 1,271 355 258%
2 BMO Harris Bank 11 5 120%
3 ABL Residential Credit Acquisitions LLC 11 5 120%
4 Longbridge Financial LLC 15 7 114%
6 Meadowbrook Financial Mortgage Bankers Corp. 36 17 112%
7 OCMBC Inc. 32 17 88%
5 Discover Bank 142 82 73%
8 CMG Mortgage Inc. 39 23 70%
9 E Mortgage Management 26 17 53%
10 Sound Federal Credit Union 50 33 52%
11 Mortgage Equity Partners LLC 57 38 50%
12 RCN Capital LLC 101 69 46%
13 Premier Mortgage Assoc. 20 14 43%
14 Continental Mortgage Banking 7 5 40%
15 Spring EQ LLC 70 51 37%
16 Thomaston Savings Bank 361 298 21%
17 Homeowners Finance Company 29 24 21%
18 Members Credit Union 20 17 18%
19 Connecticut Lending Partners LLC 21 18 17%
20 Semper Home Loans 27 24 13%
21 United Nations Federal Credit Union 9 8 13%
22 First Federal Bank 18 16 13%
23 Citadel Servicing 19 17 12%
24 Primelending 123 113 9%
25 Mutual of Omaha Mortgage 98 91 8%
Commercial by Volume of Loans

Rank Lender Name 2023 Volume 2022 Volume Percent Change
1 Berkshire Bank $137,247,500 $11,537,000 1090%
2 Bank of America, N.A. $280,012,890 $24,181,500 1058%
3 Capital For Change Inc. $6,662,500 $1,705,950 291%
4 Pinnacle Financial Services LLC $6,436,000 $1,671,000 285%
6 RFLF 7 LLC $8,442,860 $2,288,000 269%
7 BankHometown $27,214,193 $7,721,010 252%
5 Savings Bank of Danbury $39,612,127 $12,755,254 211%
8 Rocket Mortgage $14,021,200 $4,863,174 188%
9 Jewett City Savings Bank $14,208,630 $6,089,385 133%
10 RCN Capital LLC $3,653,000 $1,763,575 107%
11 First Bank of Greenwich $25,887,500 $14,697,750 76%
12 United Shore Financial Services LLC $4,061,243 $2,381,226 71%
13 Guilford Savings Bank $18,611,130 $12,557,854 48%
14 Guaranteed Rate Inc. $2,476,108 $1,876,230 32%
15 NBT Bank, N.A. $14,689,750 $11,557,380 27%
16 Arbor Agency Lending $10,471,000 $8,475,000 24%
17 BayCoast Bank $7,224,000 $5,931,021 22%
18 Sikorsky Financial Credit Union $3,574,655 $2,995,000 19%
19 Liberty Bank $184,772,201 $155,605,491 19%
20 Essex Savings Bank $7,828,000 $6,736,875 16%
21 Charter Oak Federal Credit Union $7,752,687 $6,881,982 13%
22 CDC New England $10,509,000 $9,505,000 11%
23 Centreville Bank $50,058,750 $45,491,503 10%
24 Windsor Federal Savings $31,842,550 $32,091,160 -1%
25 360 Federal Credit Union $1,105,000 $1,150,000 -4%
Commercial by Number of Loans

Rank Lender Name 2023 Number 2022 Number Percent Change
1 Connecticut Housing Finance Authority 9 3 200%
2 Pinnacle Financial Services LLC 17 6 183%
3 Farm Credit East 9 4 125%
4 RFLF 7 LLC 13 8 63%
6 Guilford Savings Bank 19 13 46%
7 United Shore Financial Services LLC 13 9 44%
5 BankHometown 7 5 40%
8 Arbor Commercial Funding LLC 7 5 40%
9 Capital For Change Inc. 4 3 33%
10 Sikorsky Financial Credit Union 8 6 33%
11 CDC New England 17 13 31%
12 RCN Capital LLC 9 7 29%
13 Savings Bank of Danbury 29 23 26%
14 Arbor Agency Lending 5 4 25%
15 Essex Savings Bank 8 7 14%
16 Bank of America, N.A. 13 12 8%
17 Torrington Savings Bank 15 14 7%
18 Jewett City Savings Bank 17 16 6%
19 Chelsea Groton Bank 20 19 5%
20 Thomaston Savings Bank 46 44 5%
21 Northwest Community Bank 26 25 4%
22 Guaranteed Rate Inc. 5 5 0%
23 Salisbury Bank & Trust 8 8 0%
24 Commercial Lender LLC 7 7 0%
25 Bank of Rhode Island 3 3 0%