ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Credit union members continue to save more than they are borrowing as the economy stifles economic activity. Mid-year data released by NCUA shows savings were up significantly during the first half of the year at 7%, compared to 3.7% for loans. Overall assets grew 6.5%.
Perhaps the most noteworthy number could be seen in mortgage lending which grew 10.1% from January through June. The data is drawn from 5300 reports filed by 7,972 federally insured credit unions.
The increased savings pushed down the loan-to-share ratio for the industry to 80.72% from 83.3%, which is still relatively high, but also meant a 17.3% increase in investments on credit union balance sheets. Net worth at credit unions was up 6.5% and the overall delinquency ratio slid just slightly to .97% from .93%. Overall industry ROA declined from 0.64% to 0.52%, primarily due to increased funds set aside for loan and lease losses.
Overall, in addition to mortgages, all loan categories saw growth with the exception of new auto loans and unsecured loans. NCUA said overall membership was up to approximately 88-million Americans.
For info: www.ncua.gov.(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com/ http://www.sourcemedia.com/
