Southwest Florida Mortgage Lenders Still Bullish on Region

When Calusa National Bank of Punta Gorda wanted to show off its new wealth management partnership, it brought in a heavy hitter.

Calusa is one of four new community banks that have opened in Southwest Florida since last fall, and instead of opening quietly, it did so with great fanfare.

Three more new banks are on the way, a wave of start-ups that rivals the “class of 1999-2000″ - the nine local banks that opened during a 21-month span.

Investors will put up at least $115 million to open the seven new banks.

Some say that could be a gamble during the steep downturn in the Southwest Florida housing market.

The bankers, however, believe their timing is just right.

Insignia Bank, which raised $25 million from investors to open last October in downtown Sarasota, has already reached $50 million in assets, said Charlie Brown, the president and chief executive officer.

“We think there is a healthy outlook for the Florida real estate market,” Brown said. “If you look at what the expected value of property should be versus where it’s been, you see everything coming back into equilibrium.”

Not everyone is so sure.

“I would be very nervous. I wouldn’t start a new bank right now,” said Allen Langford, president of Manatee River Community Bank.

“With the economy and the building boom coming to a screeching halt, good loans are a little harder to find,” he said.

Brian Hall, who launched Sabal Palm Bank in Sarasota last October, says smaller banks offer an alternative to big Florida mortgage providers, banks, which dominate about 80 percent of the region’s business.

“As long as large banks continue to control the market, and changes and mergers and internal issues happen, it creates a lot of opportunity for community banks,” he said.

“I’m not surprised that we’ve got some additional banks coming.”

National Bank of Southwest Florida opened in Port Charlotte in June after selling $10 million worth of stock.

Although business is slow now, a bank is well positioned by not being saddled with bad Florida home loans from the real estate slump.

“We’re doing better than expected,” he said. “It’s just that I don’t think anything is setting the world on fire this summer.”

On the horizon are Florida Shores Bank-Southwest, slated to open in Venice next month; 1st Manatee Bank in Parrish, late summer; and Gateway Bank of Southwest Florida in Sarasota, first quarter 2008.

Thomas Hodgson, the founding president of 1st Manatee, says his research found a demand for community banking in northeast Manatee County.

“The traditional big banks don’t give that close personal service,” Hodgson said.

Continue reading this article in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune about the explosion of community banks in Southwest Florida …