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Archive for the ‘Auto Loans’ Category

Equifax Anticipates Return to Pre-Recession Auto Loan Levels

Auto loan originations continued to grow on a yearly basis during the first six months of 2011, according to a new report from credit reporting agency Equifax, and figures could be back into pre-recession territory by the end of the year. During the period from January to June 2011, new car loan originations increased 15 percent to 9.6 million, up over the first six months of 2010, when total loans were at 8.3 million. Moreover, when factoring in total originations from the first half of 2009, which were only 7.5 million, this is quite a significant trend. However, the new... more »

Consumers Continue to Keep Up With Car Loans

Here’s a little good news in a dour financial market: Americans are doing better and better at making their car payments on time. A new survey from credit reporting agency TransUnion says that the percentage of borrowers who were 60 days late or more on their auto loans fell during the second quarter of this year for the seventh quarter in a row. During the period of April to June, only 0.44 percent of all all auto loans were delinquent by 60 days or more, down from 0.53 percent during the same time last year. “The numbers indicate that consumers... more »

Lending Standards Eased Slightly Again in Latest Quarter

Banks loosened their lending standards on several types of loans during the past three months, according to the Federal Reserve’s survey of senior loan officers . Those finding the easiest access to loan capital are large and medium-sized businesses, as well as car buyers. In the survey, which polled 55 domestic and 22 foreign banks, 21.8 percent of all banks said that they eased their lending standards for large companies in the third quarter from the second. And 20 percent said they had made it easier for auto loan applicants to get approved. “In spite of the equity market volatility,... more »

Q1 Auto Loans Beat ‘Cash for Clunkers’ Results

The U.S. auto lending market is continuing to grow, according to the latest data from credit reporting agency Equifax Inc. The number of car loans increased by 21 percent during the first quarter of this year compared to the same time last year. “While some sectors of the economy – most notably housing – continue to struggle, the auto lending sector has displayed positive gains based on loosening of credit to both prime and subprime borrowers paired with improvements in consumer payment behavior, which is reflected in the declining number of auto loan delinquencies,” said Michael Koukounas, Senior Vice President... more »

Auto Loan Delinquencies Fall To Record Levels

While some areas of the economy are still on shaky ground, it appears that the auto loan industry is looking good. According to a recent report by TransUnion, auto loan delinquencies have plummeted to the lowest levels seen since reporting began 12 years ago back in 1999. Loans 60 days or more delinquent dropped to a rate of just .49% where a year ago the delinquency rate came in at .66%. An article on marketwire.com analyzed the TransUnion data and also found that auto loan originations were up 22% and the increase in auto loan demand had also risen 14%... more »

Big Banks are (Slowly) Opening the Lending Spigots

The latest survey from the Federal Reserve found that some banks are in fact starting to loosen their almost impossibly high lending standards as the economy starts to pick up. “The April survey indicated that, on net, bank lending standards and terms generally had eased somewhat further during the first quarter of this year,” the Fed wrote in its quarterly survey of senior loan officers. The impetus for this easing may have been an improvement in borrower credit-worthiness. The report found that 55 percent of domestic banks saw better credit quality among their large and middle-sized loan applicants. Thirty-five percent... more »

Auto Loan ABS Sitting Pretty

The Fitch Ratings company is seeing plenty of positive signs coming out of the auto loan industry these days. Specifically, in its latest collection of data, Fitch has found improvement in car loan delinquencies and defaults and in used car values, both  leading to better performance of auto loan Asset-Backed Securities (ABS). Both prime and subprime auto loans showed some progress in February. Among primes loans, the annualized net losses (ANL) fell by 3.2 percent from January to 0.90 percent. February’s ANL were also down 42 percent from the year before. Subprime ANL were down 13.7 percent from the previous... more »

Auto Loan Delinquencies Should Stabilize Sometime This Year

Automakers are finally getting some good news. First, auto sales are on the rise. Last month all of the major automakers posted double digit sales. Leading the way was General Motors with a 49% sales increase, followed closely by Toyota who saw a 42% increase. The second piece of good news is that defaulting auto loans are diminishing, leaving more funds for new borrowers. In fact lenders were able to offer 28% more loans for automobiles in the last quarter of 2010 than the previous year at the same time, according to TransUnion, one of the credit reporting agencies. “The... more »

Controversial Car-Title Lending Bill Moves Forward in VA

The Virginia House passed a bill Monday that has tweaked many noses, including those of neighboring states. The bill, which now must go back to the state Senate for a vote, would allow car-title lenders to make loans to out-of-state drivers. The problem is that many of the surrounding states have banned this type of lending, because of its so-called predatory nature. Car-title lenders operate by lending quick money to individuals who use their cars as collateral. Virginia itself has had a ban on these loans to out of state residents for the past 6-months, but this bill, which is... more »

Car Loan Rates Are The Lowest In Decades

The recovering auto industry is getting some relief in the way of low interest rates for car loans. Interest rates for car loans are currently near record lows which just may boost car sales and help to stimulate the much needed auto industry. According to bankrate.com, the latest weekly survey sent out to major banks showed that car loan rates are averaging right around 6.1%. This rate is the lowest seen in over two decades of tracking automobile loan interest rates. A few select lenders are even offering rates as low as 2.99%. According to Edmunds.com data, interest rates hit... more »