Fed: Lending Freeze Approaching Thaw

WASHINGTON, DC-The Federal Reserve bank has released its most recent quarterly survey of senior loan officers. The good news is that the survey of 55 US banks and 23 foreign banks shows that credit–while not becoming looser–is not tightening. The bad news is that there is a higher proportion of banks that are tightening lending standards for the commercial real estate sector, at least compared to the general survey.

The survey found that for commercial real estate loans, 27% of the banks queried have tightened standards, with the remainder holding steady. Underwriting for loans for consumers–with the exception of credit cards and residential mortgages–and small businesses, by contrast, have either remained steady or have gotten easier to obtain, albeit marginally.

A greater number of banks said in this survey that they were willing to make installment loans to consumers than at any other point in the last three years. Also, only two banks reported tightening standards for small businesses and none for larger companies, compared to nine and eight, respectively, in October.

Interestingly, about 25% of the banks surveyed reported weaker demand for commercial real estate loans, while 4% reported an increase in demand.