Commercial lending activity falls in Q1

The decrease in commercial/multifamily lending activity during the first quarter was driven by decreases in originations for all property types. When compared to the first quarter of 2007, the overall decrease included a 75 percent decrease in loans for office properties, a 60 percent decrease in loans for hotel properties, a 53 percent decrease in loans for retail properties, a 37 percent decrease in loans for industrial properties, a 27 percent decrease in multifamily property loans, and a 15 percent decrease in health care loans.  more...