Conversions to R&D space could be the best option for suburban Boston office landlords facing a financial crossroads, real estate executives predicted at an economic forum focusing on the Metro North region.
Lowell-based Enterprise Bank saw net income in the fourth quarter decrease to $7.9 million from $9.7 million in the third quarter as the cost of high-interest deposits– primarily in its money market and certificates of deposit products – offset the gains from yields in assets.
A $55.3 million adaptive reuse project will create 88 affordable senior apartments in a historic mill complex that’s sat vacant for decades in downtown Holyoke.
Successful lending strategies propped up their second-quarter financial performance despite headwinds from high interest rates and intense competition for deposits.
Lowell-based Enterprise Bank saw deposits drop by less than 1 percent during the quarter, while loans grew by 2 percent.
Loan growth in a rising rate environment helped drive earnings at several Massachusetts stock banks.
Enterprise Bank saw earnings increase year-over-year by 26 percent, due in part to loan growth.
Inflation is at a historic high, the Federal Reserve has raised its benchmark interest rate 2.5 percent in six months and talk of recession is in the air. Yet businesses’ appetite for debt didn’t dim in Q2.
Lowell-based Enterprise Bank saw second quarter earnings fall 27 percent year-over-year, due in part to increased costs for employee salaries.
While lenders began 2021 anticipating some interest rate increases this year, the changing rate environment in recent weeks has added another challenge to commercial real estate lending.
Commercial real estate loans helped drive growth at several local banks in 2021 as the industry moved away from Paycheck Protection Program lending in the second half of 2021.
After another lending round of the Paycheck Protection Program ended in May, Massachusetts banks have continued to see loan forgiveness help drive financial performance.
Loan income from the Paycheck Protection Program helped drive Enterprise Bank’s earnings up more than 50 percent compared to the same quarter last year.
Local banks continued to reduce the provision for loan losses in the first quarter in a sign that pandemic-related credit concerns continue to stabilize.
Massachusetts stock banks fourth quarter earnings results continue to show improvements in COVID-related loan modifications.
Local banks have started to see the number of loans requiring COVID-19-related modifications decline but continue to watch how the pandemic could affect their loan portfolios.
With 118,000 Massachusetts small businesses, nonprofits and independent contractors receiving loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, lenders must now work on the forgiveness phase.
Customers of Lowell-based Enterprise Bank can now ask Alexa for help with their banking needs. Enterprise Bank has entered into a partnership with ENACOMM Inc. to give customers access to the fintech’s Virtual Personal Assistant (VPA).
While lenders do not expect an onslaught of PPP forgiveness applications at the outset, they too face uncertainties as they prepare for forgiveness.
As stock markets reacted to the coronavirus crisis in late February and March, community banks with investment management divisions felt the effects, with assets under management declining during the first quarter.
