The portion of lenders that increased standards for prime residential mortgages and revolving home equity lines of credit increased slightly this quarter, according to the Federal Reserve’s October 2009 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices. Demand for prime residential real estate loans was strong for the third consecutive quarter, the lenders reported, while demand for construction and industrial (C&I), commercial real estate (CRE) and nontraditional mortgages weakened over the past three months the survey covered. The rate of banks that reported tightening lending standards for prime residential real estate loans was 25% in October, up slightly from 20% in the July survey, the Fed said. The current rate is well below the peak of 75% reported in July 2008. About 30% of lenders reported tightening standards on nontraditional mortgages, a decline of 15 percentage points from the July survey. In addition, 30% of respondents reported tightening standards for revolving home equity lines of credit, about even from July. Also, about 30% of banks reported weaker demand for home equity lines of credit, up from 15% in July. The rate of lenders that tightened standards for CRE loans decreased from 45% in July to 35% in October. Demand for CRE loans was weaker for 45% of respondents, down nearly 20 percentage points from July. Write to Austin Kilgore.