Massachusetts lenders originated nearly $29 billion in home-purchase loans during 2025, a striking sum for a housing market where high prices and monthly payments continue to keep plenty of buyers on the sidelines. The new statewide ranking offers a financial snapshot of who was still getting deals across the finish line.
A ranking published Thursday by the Boston Business Journal found that the 100 largest residential mortgage lenders in Massachusetts generated nearly $29 billion in purchase-loan volume in 2025. The analysis used mortgage records released through the federal Home Mortgage Disclosure Act platform.
What The Ranking Actually Measures
The list covers purchase loans for residential properties with four or fewer units in Massachusetts. It leaves out refinances, home-improvement loans, cash-out refinances and other nonpurchase products, while the Business Journal cautioned that it could not independently verify the information.
That makes the ranking a useful measure of mortgage-backed homebuying activity, but not a complete accounting of every sale or every dollar flowing through the state's housing market. It also does not describe the full universe of mortgage business, since the analysis is limited to loans reported under HMDA.
The $29 Billion Figure Is Not A Clean Year-Over-Year Comparison
The number looks especially large beside last year's ranking, when the 25 biggest lenders accounted for about $17.5 billion in Massachusetts purchase loans tied to 2024 activity, according to an earlier Business Journal ranking. But the two totals should not be treated as a simple annual increase because the newer list covers 100 lenders instead of 25.
The broader field does provide a fuller look at the lending market, especially for buyers working with smaller regional banks, credit unions and independent mortgage companies. In other words, the headline number is less a victory lap than a reminder that a lot of financing was still moving through Massachusetts even as affordability remained the market's big villain.
Mortgage Volume Meets A Housing Supply Crunch
The lending activity arrives as Massachusetts tries to build its way out of a housing shortage. The state's Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities says 34,561 net new homes were added statewide in 2025, but Massachusetts still needs at least 222,000 additional year-round homes between 2025 and 2035 to address demand and affordability pressures.
That gap helps explain why a large mortgage market can coexist with widespread buyer frustration. More loans mean more households managed to purchase homes, but they do not by themselves create enough listings or make the next home cheaper.
Affordable Lending Is A Separate, Smaller Lane
MassHousing's own fiscal 2025 figures show how a narrower slice of the market is aimed directly at affordability. The agency said its lending partners helped 1,893 Massachusetts households buy homes, with 73% of those buyers earning less than 100% of area median income and 54% identifying as buyers of color.
MassHousing also reported $659.4 million in mortgage financing for purchases and refinances across 299 of the state's 351 cities and towns. That program-specific total is not directly comparable with the HMDA ranking, but it shows how down-payment assistance and below-market mortgage products are being used to reach borrowers who may not fit comfortably into the broader lending boom.
Earlier Hoodline coverage found that middle-income buyers are increasingly being pushed toward farther-flung communities as closer-in Massachusetts prices stretch household budgets. The new lender ranking adds the other side of that story: even in a punishing market, billions of dollars in purchase financing were still available for buyers who could clear the income, down-payment and monthly-payment hurdles.
