Fed Survey: CRE Tightening Trend Continues

Federal Issues Banking Federal Reserve CRE Lending Bank Regulatory Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

On February 6, the Fed released its January 2017 senior loan officer survey, addressing changes in the standards and terms on, and demand for, bank loans to businesses and households over the past three months. The January survey results indicated that over the fourth quarter of 2016, on balance, lenders left their standards on commercial and industrial (“C&I”) loans unchanged, while tightening credit for commercial real estate (“CRE”) loans. Banks reported that they expect to ease standards on C&I loans and for the asset quality of such loans to improve somewhat this year. In contrast, banks expect to tighten standards on CRE loans, while they expect the asset quality of most CRE loan categories to remain unchanged. As to loans to households, banks reported that demand for most types of home-purchase loans weakened over the fourth quarter. On balance, banks reported that they expect to ease standards and to see asset quality improve somewhat for most residential home-purchase loans in 2017.

For additional details see:

• Table 1 – Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices at Selected Large Banks in the U.S.
• Table 2 – Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices at Selected Branches & Agencies of Foreign Banks
• Charts – Measures of Supply and Demand for Commercial & Industrial Loans