Survey: Commercial Banks Extending Loan Maturities

Commercial banks are extending the maturities of a significant portion of their commercial real estate mortgages and construction loans, according to a Federal Reserve Board survey of senior loan officers. Over 75% of the respondent banks extended more than 25% of their maturing construction and development loans. Only 16% of the banks refinanced more than a quarter of their maturing C&D loans. Meanwhile, 70% of the banks extended more than 25% of their CRE mortgages that were on their books at the beginning of the year and scheduled to mature by September. Only 20% of respondents refinanced more than a quarter of those maturing CRE loans. The October survey revealed weaker demand for CRE loans but "stronger" demand for prime residential mortgages. However, 25% of the banks said they tightened their underwriting standards on prime single-family loans over the past three months, which is a slightly higher percentage than reported in the July loan officer survey.