New York area thrift Astoria Financial has already originated more multifamily and commercial real estate loans this year than it did in all of last year and is on track to fund upwards of $1.5 billion in such products.
Speaking at the Barclays Global Financial Services Conference in New York, President and CEO Monte Redman said that the Lake Success-based mortgage lender had roughly $555 million of multifamily and CRE loans in its pipeline at June 30, far exceeding the $204 million of those loans it originated last year.
Though the $17 billion-asset company is seeing plenty of new competitors in multifamily lending, it is maintaining market share by focusing on apartment loans in the $3 million to $5 million range that are subject to rent control, he said. (Astoria was formerly headquartered in the borough of Queens before moving out to Long Island.)
“We are not sacrificing credit," Redman said. "We know what we want and we price for profitability."
About 90% of Astoria's multifamily portfolio this year is rent-controlled or rent stabilized, up from 70% prior to 2011, he added.
Though Astoria is still primarily a mortgage lender the company has been diversifying in recent quarters in an effort to boost profits and capture more commercial deposits.
Still, unlike some other traditional thrifts, the company has no intention of switching regulators and converting to a state charter, Redman said. A number of thrifts that had been regulated by the Office of Thrift Supervision have
"As a national residential lender it would be hard for us to do that, so at this point we have no plans to switch charters," Redman said.
Some industry observers have speculated that Astoria could be a
Redman did not address the takeover speculation in his presentation.
