Acquiring credit has been tough for a while with credit standards for
commercial real estate loans tightening for 14 consecutive quarters,
according to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System’s
April update of the senior loan officer opinion survey of bank lending
practices. The report, based on changes in credit standards in the first quarter
of 2009 from the fourth quarter of 2008, noted that 66 percent of
domestic banks reported tightening commercial real estate lending
standards in the first quarter. At the same time, 70 percent of domestic banks reported weaker demand
for commercial mortgages this year. This is the largest share of banks
reporting a weakening of demand for financing since the Fed’s survey
began tracking commercial real estate lending. [more]