Municipal issuers in the Northeast sold $132.3 billion of bonds in 2024, a $43 billion increase in issuance compared to 2023.
Volume from the Northeast's issuers was 47.9% higher in 2024 than 2023, the biggest growth in volume and percentage of any region, according to data from LSEG. The $132.3 billion was a record for the region, topping 2020's total of just under $130 billion.
Volume in the Northeast outpaced 2023 volume in every quarter, nearly every state and across most sectors. It was also $30 billion higher than
New-money bonds exceeded 2023 volume by 39% and refunding bonds totaled $17 billion, a 76% increase. Deals that combined new-money and refunding bonds nearly doubled, to $14.5 billion from $7.3 billion.
Transportation continued to be the biggest sector, aside from general purpose. In 2024, Northeast issuers sold 67% more transportation bonds, for a total of $28.5 billion. The next biggest sector, education, grew by 40%, with a total volume of $17.5 billion.
Healthcare issuance reached $10 billion, a 198% increase over 2023. Bonds issued by higher education institutions dropped 76.8%, from $1.2 billion to just $279 million, as the sector
Tax-exempt debt grew to $113.8 billion in 2024, a 47% increase; tax-exempt debt grew 62% to $11.4 billion.
New York, as always, issued the most bonds of any state in the region. In 2024, the Empire State sold $58.8 billion of bonds, a 39% increase over 2023.
Pennsylvania was once again in the number 2 spot, with $16.5 billion of bonds across 294 deals, a 36% jump.
Massachusetts' $14.5 billion of total volume was a 67% increase from 2023; New Jersey's $12.8 billion was a similar increase — 68% higher than the $7.6 billion it issued in 2023. Maryland was a newcomer to the top five with $8 billion of volume, nearly double its $4.4 billion in 2023.
The states with the biggest growth were not the states with the highest volume. New Hampshire's volume had the biggest jump, with a 251% increase to $5.6 billion in 63 deals, up from $1.6 billion in 36 deals in 2023, and Delaware more than doubled its volume to $1.1 billion, selling 10 deals, up from six in 2023.
Puerto Rico's volume was up nearly 200% over the prior year, with three deals last year after two the year before, while the District of Columbia's volume came in 2.4% lower. The Virgin Islands, which issued no bonds in 2023, had two deals in 2024 worth a total of $83 million.
The
The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York came close on TFA's heels, credited by LSEG with $10.5 billion of sales in 2024. DASNY had quite a jump from 2023, when it issued $5.6 billion. The third place spot went to New York City itself, which sold $7.4 billion across nine deals.
The fourth and fifth spots on the top issuers list came from outside New York; Massachusetts issued $5.5 billion of bonds and the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority sold $4.8 billion, according to LSEG. The New York Transportation Development Corp. ranked sixth, with $4.5 billion of issuance in three deals in the year.
There were some shakeups among the region's top issuers.
The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, the
The agency's relatively restrained issuing habits may be related to the
Meanwhile, the eighth-place spot went to a newcomer, the New Hampshire National Finance Authority. LSEG credited the authority with $4 billion of bonds last year, more than the entire state priced in 2023.
New York issuers expanded their dominance on the list of biggest deals in 2024, LSEG's data shows. All but one of the top 10 deals in the Northeast were from New York issuers.
The top bookrunner in the region in 2024 was BofA Securities, credited by LSEG with underwriting $27.9 billion of bonds across 122 transactions in the Northeast. The runner-up was J.P. Morgan Securities, a newcomer to the top five, with $13.3 billion. In third was Morgan Stanley, with 12.2 billion, followed by Jefferies with $11.4 billion and Siebert Williams Shank with $10 billion.
The top bond counsel in the Northeast was once again Bryant Rabbino. The firm handled $15.3 billion of bonds across 42 deals, according to LSEG, that's up from 2023, when it was credited with $9.4 billion on 32 deals.
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe was the next-biggest counsel, credited with $10.1 billion in the region on 88 deals, nearly $4 billion higher than its 2023 volume.
The rest of the firms in the top five also saw growth in their totals, including Norton Rose Fulbright, with $9.6 billion; Nixon Peabody, with $8.1 billion; and newcomer Locke Lord which handled $7.7 billion across 154 deals.
The Public Resources Advisory Group maintained its status as the top municipal advisor in the Northeast, working on $25.8 billion of deals, according to LSEG. In an upset, Frasca & Associates claimed the number two spot, working on $15.3 worth of bonds — nearly $7 billion more than its 2023 portfolio.
In third was PFM with $12.9 billion, followed by Acacia Financial Group with $8.3 billion, and HilltopSecurities with $4.96 billion.
