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THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND REAL ESTATE WEEKLY FOR MASSACHUSETTS BY THE NUMBERS
PAGE 6
County close-up: Plymouth Spotlight: Rochester
Jess Kennedy saw the mortgage process as a painful experience for people and wanted to find a way to remove that pain. Two years ago, she joined a team of five people who set out to build a digital lending platform.
IN PERSON
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WEEK OF MONDAY, JUNE 8, 2020
BANKING & LENDING BY THE NUMBERS
COVID-19 HOUSING MARKET
AGENTS FACE NEW CHALLENGES IN
9 New Valley Bank & Trust is moving up by moving its offices down nine floors. See Week on the Web on page 2. Source: New Valley Bank & Trust
3.7
VIRUS’ WAKE
AIM’s Business Confidence Index rose 3.7 points from April to May. See Diane McLaughlin’s story on page 9. Source: Associated Industries of Massachusetts
5.4 percent The spread between the marketshare of the two top mortgage lenders in Plymouth County. See By the Numbers on page 6. Source: The Warren Group’s Marketshare Module
51 percent The share of Massachusetts employers who plan to rehire all furloughed employees. See Diane McLaughlin’s story on page 9. Source: Associated Industries of Massachusetts
2 Bridgewater Savings Bank employs the two most prolific loan originators in Plymouth County See By the Numbers on page 6. Source: The Warren Group’s Loan Originator Module
15 minutes Artificial intelligence slimmed Beeline’s loan application time down to 15 minutes. See In Person on page 8. Source: Beeline
3.87 percent The share of the Plymouth County single-family mortgage market held by Residential Mortgage Services. See By the Numbers on page 6. Source: The Warren Group’s Marketshare Module
Supply-Demand Imbalance Remains Despite New Marketing Tools BY JAY FITZGERALD SPECIAL TO BANKER & TRADESMAN
T
he Massachusetts housing market is giving new meaning to the old phrase about how the more things change the more they stay the same. Rocked by the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent economic lockdown this spring, real estate agents were forced to cancel open houses, ramp up their virtual-technology skills, don protective masks, break out the hand sanitizers, change marketing strategies and adopt to other first-ever procedures during the COVID-19 crisis. And what did they get for their efforts? More of the same supply-and-demand im-
balance, albeit exacerbated by the coronavirus mess, that last month sent home sales down and single-family and condo prices skyrocketing, once again, in Massachusetts. And real estate agents this summer are expecting more of the same “new normal,” a borderline oxymoron that nevertheless captures one of the strangest and yet most familiar periods in local real estate history, a period expected to last for a while as the state slowly reopens the economy. “It’s been insane,” Joan Witter, head of the Witter & Witter team at Compass, with offices on the Cape and in Boston, said of the roller-coaster market ride over the past two months.
Some real estate agents say that, after the governor’s initial state-of-emergency declaration in March, some sellers pulled back, not sure of the impact of the pandemic on the market.
Continued on Page 12
7 Fintech Beeline launched in seven states on May 19. See In Person on page 8. Source: Beeline
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 INTERESTS
E N C O U R A G I N G I N D I C AT O R S
Rents Remain Resilient but Outlook Uncertain
Consumer Spending Will Be Key Indicator
By Steve Adams | Banker & Tradesman Staff
By Diane McLaughlin | Banker & Tradesman Staff
Sublease Market Spikes as Business Confidence Ticks Up. Companies Rethink Real Estate Will Loan Demand Follow?
Commercial Real Estate PAGE 7
Banking & Lending PAGE 9