Domestic senior loan officers interviewed by the Federal Reserve claim lending standards on Federal Housing Administration-insured loans remain tighter for borrowers with credit scores under 660.
At the same time, lending standards for FHA loans with higher FICO scores are in line with 2006 levels, according to the Fed’s October 2012 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey.
The survey includes the opinions of lending professionals from 68 domestic banks and 23 U.S. branches of foreign financial firms.
Respondents said lending standards for prime and nontraditional mortgages remained mostly unchanged over the past three months while mortgage demand ticked up.
The loan officers surveyed attributed the increase in loan applications to HARP 2.0, which was rolled out earlier this year. The enhanced Home Affordable Refinancing Program, known as HARP 2.0, was designed to help more underwater homeowners obtain refinancing.
Demand for commercial real estate loans, residential loans and auto loans also ticked up at many banks over the course of the past three months, the Federal Reserve survey concluded.
At the same time, lending guidelines and demand for home equity loans remained unchanged over the most recent three-month period.
