Banks Are Making Getting a Mortgage Easier: Fed Survey

Banks are making it easier to get a mortgage, according to the latest quarterly survey of senior bank officials released by the Federal Reserve on Monday. The biggest number of banks eased standards on loans that were eligible for purchase by the government-sponsored entities. At the same time, banks reported modest weakening demand for mortgages across most categories of home-purchase loans over the last three months. Demand was stronger for auto and credit card loans. In a special question, banks said they expected the credit performance of syndicated leveraged loans and subprime auto loans to deteriorate this year. The Fed surveyed officials at 73 domestic banks and 23 U.S. branches of foreign banks between December 30 and January 13.