US credit conditions continued to ease slightly through Q1

1 May 2012 by Jim Fickett.

The Federal Reserve reported yesterday on the results of their most recent (end March / beginning April) survey of senior loan officers. In general credit conditions were not greatly changed, but did ease slightly during the first quarter. This is positive for the short-term economic outlook.

Overall, in the April survey, modest net fractions of domestic banks generally reported having eased their lending standards and having experienced stronger demand over the past three months.

Looking at specific categories, a slight majority eased standards on commercial and industrial loans:

A significant majority loosened standards for commercial real estate loans:

A slight majority tightened standards for residential real estate loans:

And a slight majority loosened standards for consumer loans:

(All graphs courtesy of the Federal Reserve. Click for larger image.)