Amid a municipal bond volume boom, Northeast gained the most
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Municipal bond volume in the Northeast increased more than any other region in the first half of 2024. Issuers sold $61 billion of debt in 678 deals, a 55% increase over the same period last year.
Each of the region’s 11 states outpaced its volume from last year, according to data from LSEG, with most seeing increases of more than 50%. The District of Columbia fell short of last year’s volume, and no municipal bonds were issued from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The big increase came amid a national boom in municipal bond sales; total issuance in the first half was $242.16 billion in 4,208 deals, a 32.3% increase over the first half of 2023, according to LSEG data.
Northeast issuers started the year strong with $30.9 billion across 274 deals in the first quarter. They kept it up in the second quarter with $30.7 billion in volume across 404 issuances.
Last year, the Northeast had the
The second-biggest deal was the June 18 issuance from the
New York demonstrated its dominance on big transactions. In the
In total, New York issuers offered $28.03 billion of bonds in the first half of the year. That’s up 55% from the same period last year, when the state’s issuers sold $18.08 billion, and even above the $26.9 billion from the first half of New York’s historic 2022.
New Hampshire was home to the biggest jump in volume. The Granite State’s issuers offered a combined $2.69 billion across 26 deals. That’s a 360.6% increase from the first half of 2023, which had $584.2 million in 15 deals.
The housing sector grew more than any other in the state. Through seven deals, the state has issued $946.9 million this year, compared to $73.6 million across three deals in the first half of last year.
Volume from Massachusetts more than doubled. Issuers there offered $9.94 billion of bonds across 100 issues; in the first half of 2023, Massachusetts’ issuers sold just $4.67 billion across 81 issues.
Rhode Island came in third in growth among Northeast states. The state’s $1.12 billion wasn’t quite double its volume from 2023 — that year saw $582 million in its first two quarters — but it was a 92% increase. The $1.12 billion of bonds came from just 17 deals, which is only three more than the first half of last year.
The only Northeast entities to see a drop in volume were the District of Columbia, where volume fell to $1.01 billion from $1.71 billion, and Puerto Rico, which had one $52.9 million issuance last year and none this year. The Virgin Islands issued no bonds either year.
The Northeast’s top bookrunner was BofA Securities, according to LSEG’s tallies. BofA took the top spot in the first half of last year, too, but was credited with a big volume increase to $12.63 billion from $7.1 billion. The rest of the bookrunners also saw growth in their deals, including runner-up Jefferies, credited with $6.34 billion; RBC Capital Markets, at $6.24 billion; Morgan Stanley, with $6.14 billion; and J.P. Morgan Securities, with $6.03 billion.
The top law firm in the Northeast was Bryant Rabbino, credited by LSEG with $6.05 billion; followed by Locke Lord, a newcomer to the top ten list with just under $5 billion; Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, Hawkins Delafield & Wood, and Nixon Peabody.
The Public Resources Advisory Group was once again the top financial advisor in the Northeast, credited by LSEG with $12.42 billion, up from $7.1 billion over the first half of 2023. PFM Financial Advisors nabbed the second place with $6.33 billion, followed by Frasca & Associates, Acacia Financial Group, and Hilltop Securities.
