Credit conditions for most business lending unchanged in fourth quarter : Fed
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Loan officers at U.S. banks reported largely unchanged lending standards and slightly looser terms for business loans in the last three months of 2016, the Federal Reserve reported on Monday in a quarterly survey.
About a third of the 69 institutions surveyed, however, said they had "tightened somewhat" the standards for commercial real estate construction and land development loans, and close to a fifth had tightened standards on loans secured by multifamily properties.
The survey results indicate the effect of the Fed's recent interest rate increase may be falling differently across the economy. About as many loan officers - around 14 percent - reported stronger demand for loans as reported weaker demand.
For commercial real estate construction and multifamily loans, large banks in particular noted ebbing demand, with about a fifth of the 41 large banks in the survey saying that demand weakened at the end of the year.
(Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Paul Simao)
