Despite inflation, tariff, interest-rates and other headwinds facing the economy, local banks and other financial institutions saw robust residential and commercial real estate lending statewide in the first half of 2025.

How long the positive lending trend can last, no one knows.

But lenders are certainly happy with what they’ve seen so far this year.

Lending was so strong during the first six months of 2025 that 23 of the state’s 50 fastest-growing residential real estate lenders saw double-digit volume increases – with the top five institutions seeing 393, 266, 206, 204 and 192 percent loan growth, respectively, compared to the same time period last year, according to data from the Warren Group, the real estate data analytics company and publisher of The Registry Review.

Commercial real estate lending, which had been dragging of late across the state and region, saw even more impressive loan gains at a few institutions – with New Hampshire’s five fastest-growing CRE lenders increasing their lending by 809, 741, 699, 615, and 527 percent, respectively, compared to the first six months of 2024.

Merger Opens New Market

Some of the first-half-year increases, on both the residential and commercial sides of the lending card, were the direct result of bank acquisitions, including Maine-based Camden National Bank’s takeover of North Conway-based Northway Bank in January.

The move brought Camden Nation’s presence in New Hampshire from one branch to a total of 16 branches.

As a result, Camden National’s residential real estate lending in the first half of 2025 rose by nearly 400 percent, from $3.6 million to $17.9 million, making it the fastest growing residential lender in first six months of 2025 in New Hampshire.

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Suddenly, Camden National, a smaller lending player last year in New Hampshire, has became a major lending player in the state.

It wasn’t just the merger that benefited Camden National.

Like other real estate lenders, the bank saw strong residential loan growth in a number of areas, including in its home equity lines of credit (HELOC) business, according to Renee Smyth, executive vice president at Camden National.

Other factors propelling the overall increase in residential lending in the first half of 2025 were a rise in the number of homes for sale across parts of the state and a relentless surge in median home prices to ever new heights.

Primary Bank, Lakeview Loan Servicing, Millyard Bank and Embrace Home Loans, respectively, rounded out the state’s top five fastest-growing residential lenders in the first half of 2025, when ranked by volume, according to The Warren Group’s data.

A strong residential real estate market in the first half of 2025, at least in terms of median condominium and single-family home prices, wasn’t all that surprising considering the extreme supply-and-demand housing imbalance that exists in the state.

Quality of Service Credited for Growth

But what was surprising was the significantly stronger commercial real estate lending numbers seen at many home-team institutions across the state.

And much of that CRE lending is tied to the housing market as well, in the form of multifamily construction loans.

Millyard Bank, in Nashua, was the fastest-growing CRE lender the state during the first six months of the year, growing it commercial real estate lending to $107 million from $11.7 million in 2024.

Frank Teas, president and CEO of Millyard Bank, said part of his institution’s loan growth was tied to the simple fact that the bank is only six years old and growing from a smaller base.

But he also noted that Millyard got involved in major multifamily lending deals in the first half of 2025, including a 42-unit condo project and a large subdivision development.

In fact, he said loan demand is as strong as he’s seen in years.

“The demand is just there,” he said. “It’s robust.”

He also credited the quality of service that his employees provide to commercial customers, many of whom come to Millyard Bank via word-of-mouth recommendations, Teas said.

“We have people here who are experts in lots of different industries,” he said.

Pent-Up Demand Driving Loans

After Millyard Bank, Camden National Bank, Bangor Savings Bank, Community Bank N.A. and Lowell Five Bank rounded out the top five fastest-growing commercial real estate lenders in the first half of 2025, ranked by loan volume, according to Warren Group data.

Bank of New Hampshire, based in Laconia, saw its CRE loan activity jump by an impressive 105 percent in the first half of 2025, to $38.4 million from $18.7 million in the first half 2024.

CEO Chris Logan said that much of today’s loan activity is being driven by pent-up demand from commercial customers in general.

“People have been putting off things, but can’t do that anymore,” he said. “The economy has been more resilient than thought as a result.”

And it’s a widely dispersed CRE loan demand for hotel, warehouse, manufacturing, medical and other commercial-sector ventures, Logan said.

“It’s been a nice sprinkling of loans across many commercial areas” he said.

But how long will the positive lending trend last?

Logan said he’s guardedly optimistic that lending through the rest of the year will remain strong, though not as strong as in the first half of 2025.

But he said he’s increasingly nervous about the economy and a few emerging industry trends that he’s seeing, such as increasing consumer-loan delinquency rates.

Like other executives interviewed for this story, Millyard Bank’s Teas said the economy is sending mixed signals, such as stubbornly high inflation, a weakening labor market and ongoing confusion over tariffs.

And yet the overall economy continues to do well.

“The economy has been strong, but it seems we’re just one economic report or missed benchmark away from the economy faltering,” he said. “We all seem to be waiting for the next economic shoe to drop.”