In Depth Analysis: CalculatedRisk Newsletter on Real Estate (Ad Free) Read it here.

Monday, August 05, 2013

Fed Survey: Banks eased lending standards, "experienced stronger demand in most loan categories"

by Calculated Risk on 8/05/2013 02:00:00 PM

From the Federal Reserve: The July 2013 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices

The July 2013 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices addressed changes in the standards and terms on, and demand for, bank loans to businesses and households over the past three months. The survey also contained special questions about changes in banks' lending standards on, and demand for, the three main types of commercial real estate (CRE) loans over the past year, and on the current levels of banks' lending standards for many types of business and household loans relative to longer-term norms. In the July survey, domestic banks, on balance, reported having eased their lending standards and having experienced stronger demand in most loan categories over the past three months. This summary is based on the responses from 73 domestic banks and 22 U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks.

Regarding loans to businesses, the July survey generally indicated that banks eased their lending policies for commercial and industrial (C&I) and CRE loans and experienced stronger demand for such loans over the past three months ...

The survey results also indicated that banks eased standards and terms on, and saw increases in demand for, some categories of lending to households. Modest net fractions of respondents reported having eased standards on prime residential or nontraditional mortgage loans, and a large net fraction indicated that they had seen increased demand for prime mortgage loans. A moderate net fraction of respondents reported that they had eased standards on auto loans over the past three months, and small net fractions indicated that they had eased standards on credit card loans and other consumer loans. Demand for all three types of consumer loans asked about in the survey had reportedly strengthened, on balance, over the second quarter.
emphasis added
CRE Standards Click on graph for larger image.

Here are some charts from the Fed.

These two graphs shows the change in lending standards and demand for CRE (commercial real estate) loans.

Increasing demand and easing in standards suggests some increase in CRE activity going forward.

In general this survey indicates lending standards are easing and demand is increasing.