This week Banker & Tradesman looked at which real estate agencies and mortgage lenders did the most business in some of the busier, more expensive Boston suburbs. Mortgage market share data was provided by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. The real estate market data includes the unit dollar volume using the double-count method and was provided by a Realtor. All data was derived from single-family home sales.

Newton

There were 633 single-family homes sold in Newton in 2016, with a median sale price of just under $1.1 million. Newton is the largest of the markets in this story with a unit dollar volume (using the double count method) of nearly $1.4 billion.

Hammond Residential sold the greatest share of them, with 212 sides (or halves of a transaction) totaling nearly $287 million, followed by Coldwell Banker Newton, with 117 sides worth $159 million.

From a 10,000-foot perspective, the big winner in Newton is Realogy Inc. Realogy owns Hammond, Coldwell Banker, Century 21 and many other brands. Realogy owns five of the top 10 offices in the Garden City and garnered more than 40 percent of the market in one of the busiest and most expensive real estate markets in the commonwealth.

LoanDepot.com got 6.7 percent of the market share in Newton in 2016, selling 215 mortgages (47 purchases) for a total of about $113 million. And in a win for the little guys, Newton-based Village Bank sold 163 mortgages (52 purchases) for more money – nearly $126 million – and 5.1 percent market share.

There were 117 Newton homebuyers who paid cash in 2016.

Brookline

Just shy of 200 single-family homes sold in Brookline in 2016 (191, to be exact) and the median price of those homes was $1.62 million. Brookline’s total unit dollar volume was $648,688,802.

Hammond Residential in Chestnut Hill is clearly the dominant office in Brookline. It sold 113 sides totaling just over $291 million in 2016. The next biggest player is about one-third that size: Coldwell Banker sold 40 sides worth $86 million. Last year was a good one for parent company Realogy in Brookline as well; it owns three of the agencies in the top 10, accounting for a total of 49.5 percent of the market share in that tony town.

In addition to showing a preference for local real estate agencies – Hammond was locally owned until July of last year and still operates under the same name – Brookline homeowners like to bank local. Brookline Bank garnered nearly 7.5 percent of the market with 132 mortgages (four were purchases) totaling $63.7 million. Coming in second – but with more dollar value and many more purchase loans – was LoanDepot with 7 percent total market share and 124 loans (30 purchases), totaling $72 million.

Fifty Brookline homebuyers paid cash in 2016.

Wellesley

There were 353 single-family home sales in 2016 in Wellesley, where the median sale price was $1.3 million. Wellesley’s total unit dollar was just shy of $1 billion.

Coldwell Banker was the biggest real estate seller in Wellesley with 146 sides and more than $238 million in volume. Runner-up Benoit Mizner Simon & Co. had 93 sides and nearly $159 million. After that brokerage was Pinnacle Realty with 49 sides and approximately $75 million in sales.

Local broker Paula Carens from Coldwell Banker Wellesley attributes some of her success last year to her referral network and the name recognition of the national brand. But she credited most of the company’s long-term success to local residents’ desire to stay in the pricey suburb.

“The Wellesley office has been number one in Wellesley for 26 years now,” Carens said. “It’s the kind of community where once you’re here, you’re hooked. Around 45 percent of the moves are intra-Wellesley. I’ve been in the business for 30 years and our clients are very loyal. It’s still a small town. We are a full-service company; you can come to us for anything and those resources add value.”

First Republic Bank did the most business in the Wellesley market in 2016. The publicly-held bank sold 88 mortgages (39 were purchases) for a total of almost $90 million and 8 percent of market share in that town.

Bank of America was right on their heels, though, with 87 mortgages (20 purchases) totaling $84 million in sales and 7.89 percent market share. The top local bank in the Wellesley market was Leader Bank with 39 mortgages (13 purchases) totaling $34 million.

Last year, 79 single-family homes in Wellesley were purchased without a mortgage.

Needham

There were 416 single-family home sales in 2016 in Needham, where the median price was $848,500. Needham’s total unit dollar volume was $678,266,892.

Many Needham homeowners like to bank local – Needham Bank sold 136 mortgages (47 purchases) for $100 million and a solid 10 percent of the market, the highest market share for a local bank of the communities featured in this analysis. LoanDepot was right behind them with 119 mortgages (21 purchases) for $60 million and 8.8 percent market share.

Eric Morse, senior vice president at Needham Bank, credits his bank’s success in residential lending to its reputation in the community and his relatively small lending department’s hard work.

“We truly are an institution in the community and when you combine the fact that we’ve been here for 125 years and the incredible leadership of Laura Dorfman and her team, it’s truly impressive,” Morse said. “We hardly spend anything marketing residential lending, it’s all her team. They don’t require help from our marketing department.”

There were 77 cash sales in Needham in 2016.

Needham homebuyers show a preference for smaller, independent real estate offices as well. Louise Condon Realty was the top office in town, selling 70 sides totaling more than $68 million, followed by RE/MAX Home Team in Needham which sold 54 sides totaling more than $61 million.

Louise Condon started Condon Realty in 1985 and said there were 18 small real estate offices in town at the time. Hers is the only one that remains, and she said that’s because of her office’s large local presence in the community.

“I think people who move here care about the town, and we do a lot in the town,” Condon said. I think it comes down to the local trust. We have a good reputation in town and I have agents that have been with me for 32 years. Most of our agent have been here over 10 years. We provide a good service. It’s all how you conduct business and your reputation.”

Lexington

There were 423 single-family homes sold in 2016 in Lexington, where the median sale price was just under $1 million. Lexington’s total unit dollar volume was $862,273,644.

Coldwell Banker led the pack in 2016 with 171 sides and more than $232 million in sales, more than double the production of its closest rival, William Raveis.

Bank of America sold 93 mortgages (28 purchases) worth $70 million for 7 percent of the market share, followed by Leader Bank. That Greater Boston community bank sold 85 mortgages worth nearly $48 million for a 6.5 percent market share, more than two and a half times more than any other local bank in the town.

There were 93 single-family home buyers in Lexington who paid cash for their home in 2016.