Banks are holding strong on credit criteria, according to the 2016 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices, released Monday by the Federal Reserve.
More than 80% of banks surveyed said that credit standards for approving applications for auto loans have “remained basically unchanged” over the past three months, while 92.5% of respondents said that neither the minimum required down payment, nor the minimum credit score has changed either.
Demand for auto loans was also steady, with nearly 20% of respondents reporting moderately stronger demand, while only 4.8% reported moderately weaker demand.
The survey asks respondents to consider the range over which their bank’s standards have varied between 2005 and the present, and then to report where the current level of standards for loans, relative to the midpoint of that range.
While half — 50.8% — of respondents said that lending standards for auto loan prime borrowers were near the midpoint range, 26.2% said that standards were somewhat easier. In the subprime category, only 33.3% said standards were near the midpoint range and 25.9% said standards were somewhat tighter. Standards were reported as somewhat easier by 18.5%, and 3.7% said standards were significantly looser.
