September 2008 

Ojai, CA --  The number of US Banks and Thrifts that exceed the regulatory guidelines for CRE lending increased in the past year.  The reason for the increase in number of banks was largely a result of declining capital levels at many banks.  On average, US Banks' average concentration in CRE loans increased from 176.8% of capital to 177.6%. 

Since our first survey in September 2007, the percentage of US commercial banks exceeding the 300% guideline for CRE lending increased from 33% to 38.7%.  The percentage of Thrifts that exceeded this level was 40.6%.  (The regulator for Thrifts-- the OTS -- does not recognize the 300% guidance limit). 

In addition, the number of US commercial banks that exceeded the threshold of 100% of capital in construction loans also increased from 25% to 33.2%.   The comparable number of Thrifts exceeding this level was 34.6% as of June 2008.