Lenders were shunning the category just a few years ago, with investors and analysts warning of a wave of defaults. Big banks are on the hunt to grow their loan books and are turning back to an area they had shunned not that long ago. Just a few years ago, banks couldn't get away from commercial real-estate loans fast enough, fearing potential losses as office vacancy rates remained elevated after the pandemic. Now, they are wading back in with a focus on big growth areas like multifamily housing and industrial real estate, which is being fueled by a boom in big data-center projects. They are doing so with tighter lending standards, they say, while still working through some troubled loans stemming from continued distress in some office markets.

Bank of America and U.S. Bancorp's commercial real-estate loan balances were each up over 8% in the second quarter from a year ago. Truist Financial's loans were up by about 25%, and PNC Financial Services Group's were up 15%. Overall, commercial real-estate mortgage loan originations in the first quarter were up more than 50% from a year earlier, according to a survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association, driven in part by an 80% increase in loans from deposit-taking institutions.

"There's kind of an awakening that it's probably safe to go back into the water," said Citizens Financial Group Chief Executive Bruce Van Saun. "We need earning assets, and we can find some attractive earning assets."