Survey shows lenders still cautious

Nearly three out of four major U.S. banks tightened their underwriting standards for residential mortgage loans in the 12 months ending March 31, and one in five discontinued or planned to discontinue one or more retail mortgage products.

While not unexpected, those and other findings of an annual survey by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency demonstrate the extent of a second consecutive year of tightened lending standards following four years of eased underwriting.

The survey included the 59 largest national banks and $3.6 trillion in commercial residential loans of all types, or more than 84 percent of all outstanding loans in the national banking system.

Among the 52 banks engaged in retail mortgage lending during the survey period, 73 percent reported tightening standards and six said they have exited or plan to exit the business altogether.

That compares with 56 percent of banks that reported tightening underwriting standards for residential mortgages the year before and 14 percent two years ago.

For the second year in a row, no banks reported easing underwriting standards on residential mortgage loans, although 27 percent left them unchanged.

One in five banks had discontinued or planned to discontinue one or more retail mortgage products -- a sign of a diminished appetite for risk, OCC said. None of the banks surveyed offered payment-option adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans. ...CONTINUED

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