Which New Jersey Banks Are Lending on Commercial Real Estate — and Which Are at Their Regulatory Monitoring Thresholds
Every quarter, every FDIC-insured bank files a Call Report disclosing exactly how much commercial real estate it holds. Almost nobody reads them. This tracker does: it computes the federal CRE concentration measure for all 50 New Jersey-chartered banks, shows who is growing and who is pulling back, and updates every quarter. Data as of March 31, 2026.
What the Q1 2026 data shows
The national headline in mid-2026 is that banks are back in commercial real estate — origination pipelines are up sharply from a year ago and lenders are competing on price again. The New Jersey Call Report data tells a more useful story: the recovery is real but it is bank-specific, and the dividing line is regulatory capacity.
New Jersey's 50 chartered banks hold $74.7 billion of commercial real estate loans — $29.1 billion of it multifamily. Sixteen of the 34 banks with meaningful CRE books sit at or above the 300% concentration level that federal supervisors have used since 2006 to identify institutions warranting heightened CRE risk-management. To be precise about what that means: exceeding 300% is not a violation, a cap, or a judgment about a bank's condition — it is a monitoring criterion. But banks above it typically face closer supervisory attention to any further CRE growth, and the behavior in the data is consistent with that: twelve NJ banks shrank their CRE books over the past year, including the state's largest CRE lender, while eleven others grew theirs by double digits.
Those 16 above-threshold institutions hold 92% of all the CRE on New Jersey bank balance sheets. In practical terms: the overwhelming majority of New Jersey's bank-held commercial real estate sits at institutions with the least room to add more. For a borrower whose loan is maturing at one of them, “my bank will just renew it” is a weaker assumption than it used to be — and which bank holds your loan now matters more than the national headline.
One more thing the data shows that the narrative doesn't: none of this is a construction story. Not a single NJ bank exceeds the separate 100% supervisory criterion for construction and land-development lending. New Jersey bank CRE concentration lives in income property — multifamily and non-owner-occupied commercial — which is exactly the collateral behind the 2026–2027 maturity wall.
How to read the table
CRE concentration is the bank's construction, multifamily, and non-owner-occupied commercial real estate loans divided by its total risk-based capital — the measure defined in the 2006 interagency guidance. 300% is the level at which supervisors expect heightened risk management (it is not a limit). C&D concentration applies the same math to construction and land-development loans only, against a 100% criterion. Growth columns show the change in the bank's total CRE book. Full definitions, sources, and caveats are on the methodology page.
Data as of March 31, 2026 (Q1 2026 Call Reports) · Retrieved from the FDIC BankFind Suite API July 14, 2026 · Next update: Q2 2026 data, expected September 2026.
| Bank (City) | Total assets | Total CRE loans | CRE concentration | C&D concentration | CRE YoY Δ | CRE 36-mo Δ | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freedom Bank (Maywood) | $856.1M | $490.4M | 573.0% | 93.1% | +13.0% | +39.7% | |
| Kearny Bank (Kearny) | $7.6B | $3.7B | 513.7% | 28.9% | -3.0% | -6.6% | |
| Spencer Savings Bank, SLA (Elmwood Park) | $4.0B | $2.3B | 484.1% | 16.9% | +5.1% | +8.2% | |
| First Commerce Bank (Lakewood) | $1.8B | $892.5M | 435.7% | 47.8% | +22.6% | +36.2% | |
| ConnectOne Bank (Englewood Cliffs) | $14.2B | $7.0B | 434.9% | 58.2% | +38.5%‡ | +32.6%‡ | ‡ |
| Provident Bank (Jersey City) | $25.2B | $11.6B | 423.1% | 26.0% | +2.7%‡ | +79.5%‡ | ‡ |
| OceanFirst Bank, National Association (Toms River) | $14.5B | $5.5B | 418.0% | 49.9% | +7.0% | +3.8% | |
| Amboy Bank (Old Bridge) | $2.9B | $1.5B | 409.6% | 86.5% | +4.4% | +24.2% | |
| Haven Savings Bank (Hoboken) | $1.0B | $380.0M | 407.9% | 16.3% | -0.6% | +0.3% | |
| The Bank of Princeton (Princeton) | $2.3B | $1.1B | 406.9% | 78.2% | -7.1% | +5.4% | |
| Peapack Private Bank & Trust (Bedminster) | $7.7B | $3.1B | 405.8% | 2.7% | +10.3% | +5.5% | |
| BCB Community Bank† (Bayonne) | $3.3B | $1.5B | 404.0%† | 21.3%† | -6.3% | -16.0% | † |
| First Bank (Hamilton) | $4.0B | $1.6B | 343.2% | 38.7% | -2.1% | +23.5% | |
| Columbia Bank (Fair Lawn) | $11.0B | $3.9B | 340.6% | 45.4% | +6.8% | +14.9% | |
| Manasquan Bank (Manasquan) | $3.5B | $1.2B | 328.0% | 63.8% | +6.8% | +53.9% | |
| Valley National Bank (Passaic) | $64.4B | $22.6B | 326.4% | 36.0% | -3.5% | -14.6% | |
| Ascendia Bank (Glen Rock) | $388.2M | $110.5M | 295.2% | 61.3% | -0.2% | +42.2% | |
| Blue Foundry Bank (Rutherford) | $2.1B | $896.8M | 289.3% | 21.5% | -4.1% | -1.1% | |
| GSL Savings Bank (Guttenberg) | $156.5M | $33.0M | 274.4% | 2.5% | +21.2% | +288.6% | |
| Magyar Bank (New Brunswick) | $1.1B | $349.9M | 272.0% | 28.2% | +11.2% | +33.0% | |
| Parke Bank† (Sewell) | $2.2B | $905.4M | 236.3%† | 56.9%† | +27.4% | +39.7% | † |
| Unity Bank (Clinton) | $3.0B | $916.5M | 235.9% | 71.0% | +17.2% | +17.5% | |
| The First National Bank of Elmer (Elmer) | $400.0M | $103.4M | 235.4% | 33.9% | +0.4% | +21.3% | |
| First Hope Bank, A National Banking Association (Hope) | $654.4M | $169.8M | 235.0% | 34.9% | +13.3% | +19.3% | |
| Sturdy Savings Bank (Stone Harbor) | $1.1B | $226.7M | 201.7% | 29.2% | +5.5% | +84.4% | |
| Somerset Regal Bank† (Bound Brook) | $1.1B | $325.1M | 200.4%† | 0.0%† | +12.2%‡ | n/m ‡ | † ‡ |
| Crown Bank† (Elizabeth) | $643.2M | $299.4M | 180.7%† | 38.8%† | -2.1% | +9.6% | † |
| Newfield National Bank (Newfield) | $887.4M | $176.9M | 176.9% | 32.3% | +22.4% | +32.3% | |
| New Millennium Bank (Fort Lee) | $924.7M | $234.2M | 173.4% | 5.5% | +8.7% | +39.0% | |
| Haddon Savings Bank (Haddon Heights) | $410.9M | $59.9M | 166.5% | 67.6% | +34.4% | +253.5% | |
| Crest Savings Bank (Wildwood) | $579.6M | $79.2M | 148.3% | 10.5% | -12.6% | -1.1% | |
| Hana Bank USA, National Association (Fort Lee) | $839.6M | $306.2M | 141.2% | 0.4% | +0.2% | +154.3% | |
| Franklin Bank (Pilesgrove) | $337.4M | $46.6M | 130.2% | 33.7% | +25.0% | +69.4% | |
| Bogota Savings Bank† (Teaneck) | $875.2M | $176.5M | 130.0%† | 13.9%† | -13.0% | -9.4% | † |
| Century Savings Bank† (Vineland) | $640.7M | $108.8M | 118.3%† | 24.1%† | +3.2% | +14.3% | † |
| United Roosevelt Savings Bank (Carteret) | $384.0M | $39.3M | 105.9% | 0.0% | -20.1% | -9.4% | |
| Schuyler Savings Bank† (Kearny) | $149.7M | $22.2M | 100.9%† | 0.0%† | -17.2% | +4.3% | † |
| 1st Bank of Sea Isle City (Sea Isle City) | $302.3M | $28.0M | 90.2% | 70.9% | -8.9% | -18.4% | |
| The First National Bank of Absecon† (Absecon) | $194.0M | $15.0M | 69.0%† | 7.7%† | +39.1% | +5.1% | † |
| Cross River Bank† (Fort Lee) | $8.7B | $601.6M | 55.2%† | 18.7%† | -24.3% | -43.8% | † |
| The Pennsville National Bank† (Pennsville) | $289.7M | $14.4M | 47.9%† | 15.0%† | +85.3% | +112.4% | † |
| Union County Savings Bank (Elizabeth) | $1.5B | $47.8M | 34.6% | 5.1% | +42.1% | +89.9% | |
| Lusitania Savings Bank (Newark) | $411.3M | $19.2M | 30.1% | 0.1% | -3.0% | +27.5% | |
| Millville Savings Bank (Millville) | $168.0M | $4.8M | 20.2% | 19.3% | -8.2% | -13.3% | |
| Five Rivers Bank† (Paramus) | $37.9M | $2.4M | 8.3%† | 0.0%† | — | — | † |
| Monroe Savings Bank (Williamstown) | $113.2M | $0.3M | 1.8% | 0.0% | -9.0% | -30.7% | |
| Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (U.S.A.) Limited (Hoboken) | $3.8B | $0.0M | 0.0% | 0.0% | — | — | |
| Bessemer Trust Company (Woodbridge) | $1.8B | $0.0M | 0.0% | 0.0% | — | — | |
| Cenlar FSB (Ewing) | $864.5M | $0.0M | 0.0% | 0.0% | — | — | |
| Liberty Bank of New Jersey† (Verona) | $70.6M | $0.0M | 0.0%† | 0.0%† | — | — | † |
† Community Bank Leverage Ratio elector; does not report risk-based capital. Denominator proxied as Tier 1 capital + allowance for credit losses per the agencies' CBLR transition approach.
‡ Growth figures reflect a completed bank merger during the measurement window, not solely organic origination.
Source: FFIEC Call Reports via the FDIC BankFind Suite API. Dollar figures as reported (thousands), displayed in millions/billions. Concentration ratios computed per the 2006 Interagency Guidance on Concentrations in Commercial Real Estate Lending; see methodology for the exact formula and its one conservative omission. † CBLR elector — see methodology. ‡ Merger during measurement window.
Download the full dataset (CSV) — all 50 institutions, every underlying line item, including owner-occupied commercial (excluded from the concentration measure by design).
What this table is not. Concentration ratios are computed from each bank's own public regulatory filings and describe portfolio composition relative to capital — nothing here is a statement about any institution's safety, soundness, or condition, and exceeding a supervisory monitoring criterion is neither a violation nor a supervisory finding. Blue Sky Capital Advisors is a commercial mortgage advisory firm, not a bank rating agency. Figures are as of the date shown and change quarterly.
What this means if you're a borrower
If your commercial or multifamily loan matures in the next 24 months, the single most useful thing to know is where your bank sits on this table — because it shapes whether renewal, a paydown demand, or a non-renewal is the likely opening position. Blue Sky Capital Advisors structures and places commercial and multifamily financing — value-add, bridge, and permanent — across banks with capacity, non-bank lenders, and agency programs. If your current bank has less room than it used to, we arrange the alternative. Call (908) 220-6404 or request a consultation.
Common Questions About This Data
What does a CRE concentration above 300% mean?+
It means the bank's construction, multifamily, and non-owner-occupied commercial real estate loans exceed three times its total risk-based capital — the level at which the 2006 interagency guidance tells federal supervisors to expect heightened CRE risk-management. It is a monitoring criterion, not a limit or a violation, and it says nothing by itself about a bank's condition. In practice, banks above it tend to be more selective about adding CRE exposure.
Where does this data come from?+
Every FDIC-insured bank files a quarterly Call Report with the FFIEC — a public regulatory filing. We pull the CRE loan line items and capital figures through the FDIC's BankFind Suite API and compute the ratios using the federal supervisory formula. Every number on this page traces to a specific line in a specific bank's filing.
Does this cover every bank that lends in New Jersey?+
No — it covers the 50 banks chartered in New Jersey. New York, Pennsylvania, and national banks also lend on NJ property but file as institutions of their home states, and Call Report data is entity-level, not property-level. NJ-chartered banks are the cleanest proxy for local bank lending appetite.
Why do a few banks show a different capital basis?+
Twelve of the fifty NJ-chartered banks — seven of them in the main table — elected the Community Bank Leverage Ratio framework and therefore don't report risk-based capital. For those, we use Tier 1 capital plus the allowance for credit losses as the denominator, consistent with the agencies' approach, and mark them †.
Why did some banks' CRE books jump 30–80%?+
Mergers. Provident absorbed Lakeland in 2024, ConnectOne absorbed First of Long Island in 2025, and Somerset Savings combined with Regal in 2023 — those growth figures reflect acquisitions, not solely new origination, and are marked ‡.
My loan is maturing at a bank high on this table — what are my options?+
The common paths are renewal (sometimes with a principal paydown), refinancing to a bank with more capacity, a non-bank bridge loan to buy time and reposition, or agency permanent debt for stabilized multifamily. Blue Sky Capital Advisors arranges and places all of these; the right one depends on the property's cash flow and your plan. That conversation is what we do — (908) 220-6404.
Methodology, sources & limitations·New Jersey Multifamily Loans