Community bank lending on upswing | Waccabuc Real Estate

Need a loan? Local banks want your business.

The area’s community banks grew their loan portfolios 7 percent during the past two quarters, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

This is good news for smaller institutions, many of which got a boost in business during the downturn as larger banks pulled back on lending. The new figures show that big banks have returned to more aggressive lending this year, but small banks are still winning a lot of deals.

Total loans outstanding — excluding McLean-based Capital One N.A., which skews the data with its size — grew …