GOOD $$ SIGN: Small Business Lending Up First Time in 10 Quarters, Says SBA
March 22, 2013
By: Dave Rogers
According to the latest Call Report data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), small business lending increased from $584.1 billion in September 2012 to $586 billion in December 2012.
They create most of the jobs so it's good news that lending to small businesses has increased for the first time in ten quarters. The increase is only by 0.4 percent, but the signs point up at last.
According to the latest Call Report data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), small business lending increased from $584.1 billion in September 2012 to $586 billion in December 2012.
The economy continues to strengthen due to improving financial conditions and low interest rates, although the Small Business Administration (SBA) calls the lending environment "meek."
Lenders reported easing lending standards on both commercial and industrial (C&I) loans, and commercial real estate loans (CRE).
Lending terms were loosened for (C&I) loans. Although lenders also reported increased demand for both types of loans, conditions for CRE loans remained relatively tight.
In fact, overall small business lending continued to be slowed by CRE loans, which have yet to turn upward.
All loan size categories (under $1 million, $100,000 to $1 million, and under $100,000) saw small increases in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Among the depository lending community, the larger institutions of $1 billion or more helped offset the declines in lending by the smaller lending depository institutions.
Small business lending by institutions with assets of $50
billion or more followed the general trend and remained unchanged. Overall, gross domestic product maintained solid growth.
The January 2013 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices addressed changes in the supply of, and demand for, bank loans to businesses and households over the past three months. This summary is based on responses from 68 domestic banks and 22 U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks.
In the January survey, generally modest fractions of domestic banks reported having eased their standards across major loan categories over the past three months on net.
Domestic respondents indicated that demand for business loans, prime residential mortgages, and auto loans had strengthened, on balance, while demand for other types of loans was about unchanged.
U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks, which mainly lend to businesses, reported little change in their lending standards, while demand for their loans was reportedly stronger on net.