CUNA Mutual Group’s March trends report on credit unions revealed slowing growth rates in a number of key areas.
Loan balances at credit unions edged up by 0.3% in March, well below the 0.8% figure from March 2018. For the 12-month period that ended in March, loan volumes climbed by 8.1%, versus 9.6% growth in the prior-year period.
CUNA Mutual noted that March is historically the third weakest loan growth month of the year, due to “seasonal factors.” Overall, the trade group expects loan growth to fall to 7.8% for 2019 and to 7% in 2020, down from 9% in 2018.
Credit union auto loan balances grew by 8.5% for the 12-month period that ended in March, down from the 10.8% pace reported a year earlier. New auto loans grew by 9.3% for the 12 months ending in March, versus 12.1% for the same period a year earlier. For used auto loans, the respective figures were 7.9% and 10.0%.
Total real estate loans issued by credit unions grew by 7.5% through the 12 months ending in March, down from the 9.6% growth recorded for the same period a year earlier.
Loan delinquency rates rose to 0.67% in March, up two basis points from a year earlier. CUNA Mutual explained that the loan delinquency rate typically hits its lowest point in March due to “tax refunds and bonuses allowing some members to catch up on late loan payments.”
CUNA Mutual indicated that for the first quarter, credit unions added 800,000 new members, significantly below the 1.4 million new members who joined in the first quarter of 2018. The trade group expects membership growth to exceed 3.5% in 2019, then slip to 3% in 2020.
CUNA Mutual estimated the total number of credit unions stood at 5,572 at the end of March 2019, 11 less than in February and down by 187 from a year earlier.
Total credit union assets climbed by 1.6% in March 2019, slightly less than the 1.7% gain recorded a year earlier. Over the 12-month period ending in March, assets rose by 6.4%, above the 5.8% gain reported in the same period that ended in March 2018.
