SBA Reports Small-Business Loans Rose to 23.5M in 2012
WASHINGTON -- The number of small-business loans increased to 23.5 million in June 2012 from 21.3 million in June 2011, the U.S. Small Business Administration reports. The number of small-business loans outstanding continued to decline, but only by 3.1% last year as opposed to 6.9% in 2011.
While large-business borrowing increased, small- businesses borrowing from depository lenders remained weak for both commercial real estate and commercial and industrial (C&I) loans of less than $1 million, according to the "Small Business Lending in the United States 2012" study from the SBA Office of Advocacy. However, for the first time since 2010, C&I lending in amounts of less than $100,000 was up in both the number and amount of loans.
"While overall small-business lending continues to decline, we are not seeing the sharp decline we saw in recent years," said Winslow Sargeant, chief counsel for advocacy at the office. "More importantly, the study shows an increase in the number of small-business loans, which underscores the positive turn in our country's economic landscape."
Among the findings in the study:
Small-business borrowing from depository lenders, usually called commercial banks, remained subdued for both commercial real estate and C&I loans of less than $1 million, while large-business borrowing increased. The value of these small-business loans outstanding fell 3.1% in 2012, compared to 7% the previous year, while large business loans in excess of $1 million rose 12% in 2012 compared with 5.8% in 2011.
In 2012, the value of micro-business loans -- the smallest business loans, less than $100,000 -- was $138.2 billion compared with $139.5 billion in 2011, a decrease of roughly 1%. The decline was in commercial real estate loans.
Lenders with total assets between of $1 billion and $10 billion and those with assets of between $100 million and $500 million combined accounted for 39.3% of all small-business lending, and 53.3% of the decline in small-business loans.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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