Lending across the U.S. was mostly mixed, with parts of the country showing signs of stabilization and others reporting weakness, the Federal Reserve Board said Wednesday.
"Loan demand was reported as stable in San Francisco, mixed in New York, steady to slightly softer in Kansas City, weaker in St. Louis and Dallas, and slowly improving in Philadelphia and Richmond," the central bank reported in its latest Beige Book survey of economic conditions.
In the three months from mid-September to mid-December, a sample of small and midsize banks in the St. Louis district reported a decline in lending activity. For example, real estate lending, which accounted for 73.3% of total loans, fell 2.4%, and loans to individuals, which accounted for 4.9% of total loans, shrank by 6.1%.
Signs of improvement in consumer lending persisted in the Dallas and Chicago districts.
In Chicago, consumer credit demand was stronger than expected. The Fed noted that "financial market participants were cautiously optimistic in their outlook for financial and economic conditions in 2011, although a few questioned the sustainability of recent improvements, as they expected business and household deleveraging to continue for some time."
By contrast, New York, Cleveland, St. Louis, Kansas City and San Francisco districts all reported declines in consumer demand.
