So are banks making it easier to obtain loans?
Well, yes and no, depending on the news source --- which makes the situation confusing for loan seekers, finds Grumpy Editor.
Bloomberg News, in pointing out “banks are lending the most since the recession ended in June, 2009,” said yesterday the latest Federal Reserve quarterly loan officer survey showed U.S. banks “continued to report having eased their lending standards across most loan types over the past three months.”
Bloomberg noted banks cited “stronger demand for auto and credit card loans.”
Bloomberg also quoted an investment strategist saying, “banks are lending, people are borrowing, housing prices are going up and a sense of normality is returning.”
Sounds encouraging.
But then The Wall Street Journal, working off the same Fed survey, yesterday reported “despite the increase in mortgage demand, lenders were keeping standards tight for mortgage borrowers, as well as for small business loans.”
The Journal added that among loan officers surveyed, 93 percent said standards for approving mortgages to those with strong credit “were unchanged from the prior quarter” and 95 percent said standards for businesses with under $50 million in annual sales also were unchanged.
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