The N.Y. Federal Reserve Bank released a study last week indicating that subprime loans, while on the rise, have not reached pre-crash levels as a proportion of total loans. Subprime loans — those made to consumers with credit scores of 620 or lower — accounted for 22.1% of loans outstanding in the second quarter, compared with 27.3% of loans outstanding in the final quarter of 2005. The recent growth in subprime loans has been more pronounced among captive lenders than among banks, according to the study, which noted that average 30-day subprime delinquency rates dating back to 2009 were 1% for banks and 2.5% for captives.
