Fed senior loan officer survey: Banks tightened standards during Q3 for commercial loans

  • Banks reported tighter lending standards and weaker demand for commercial and industrial loans across all firm sizes in the third quarter of 2023.
  • Commercial real estate loans also saw tightened standards and reduced demand.
  • Residential real estate loans and home equity lines of credit experienced stricter standards, except for government-backed residential mortgages, which remained unchanged.
  • Demand for all categories of residential real estate loans weakened, with significant net shares of banks reporting a decline.
  • Credit card, auto, and other consumer loans saw tightened lending standards and a weakening demand.
  • Special questions revealed banks were less likely to approve credit card and auto loans for borrowers with lower FICO scores compared to the beginning of the year.
  • Economic outlook, risk tolerance, credit quality, and funding costs were the primary reasons banks cited for tightening lending standards.

The Fed would have been surprised in the Q2 survey when it didn’t show tighter lending after the regional banking crisis but there is some tightening seen here, which shows the Fed that it doesn’t need to do more.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com. Source