Company: NWBI
Filing Date: 2025-02-25
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001471265-25-000016
Chunk: 5

Company: Northwest Bancshares, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-02-25
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 5
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 to $62,248 as of December 31, 2024, compared to the national median income level of $78,770. As of December 31, 2024, the unemployment rate for our Indiana market was 4.5%, compared to the national average of 4.1%.

As of September 30, 2024, the House Price Index for the last four quarters in our Indiana market area increased by 6.4%, compared to an increase in the national average of 4.3%. As of September 30, 2024, the foreclosure rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four unit residential properties in the state of Indiana was one in every 3,441 housing units, compared to the national average of one in every 4,578 housing units.

3

Lending Activities

General. Our principal lending activities are the origination of fixed and adjustable-rate loans collateralized by one-to-four-family residential real estate, shorter term consumer loans and loans collateralized by multi-family residential and commercial real estate as well as commercial business loans. Generally, we focus our lending activities in the geographic areas where we maintain offices.

In an effort to manage interest rate risk, we have sought to make our interest-earning assets more interest rate sensitive by originating adjustable-rate loans, such as adjustable-rate residential mortgage loans and home equity lines of credit, and by originating short-term and medium-term fixed-rate consumer loans. In recent years we have emphasized the origination of commercial real estate loans and commercial business loans, which generally have adjustable-rates of interest and shorter maturities than one-to-four-family residential real estate loans. Because we originate a substantial amount of long-term fixed-rate mortgage loans collateralized by one-to-four-family residential real estate, when possible, we originate and underwrite loans according to standards that allow us to sell them into the secondary mortgage market for purposes of managing interest-rate risk and liquidity. The sale of mortgage loans supports our strategy to grow the consumer and commercial loan portfolios faster than our portfolio of long-term fixed-rate residential mortgage loans. We currently sell low-yielding fixed-rate residential mortgage loans with maturities of more than 15 years, and on a more limited basis, those with maturities of 15 years or less, while retaining all adjustable-rate residential mortgage loans. With the build out of our Columbus, Ohio mortgage fulfillment center, our intention is to sell more loans into the secondary market on a servicing released basis. We also retain servicing on some of the