We have been focusing quite a bit lately on commercial real estate (CRE) ghost malls and the like, and with good reason. But, imagine a scenario where a bank had 56% of its loans in CRE and another 26% in…
The Majority of the Minority
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders constitute about 6% of the U.S. population. They also control half of the nation’s minority owned banks. Most of these banks have strong ratings and histories, which is good…
Changing Habits, Closing Stores
As the nation’s bank rating firm, it’s Bauer’s job to stay on top of things like Commercial Real Estate (CRE). While not automatically a sign of impending trouble, too much of anything (i.e. concentration in one type, growth, bad loans,…
Cyber-Fraud Reaches Pandemic Levels
Federal Regulators are required to submit Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) to the Treasury for a number of different reasons and scenarios, but it all boils down to one: Fraud and Crime Prevention. In August 2018, a new sub-category was added…
C.U. Assets Grow at Breakneck Speed
The NCUA released its second quarter state-by-state Credit Union findings on Tuesday (9/15) proving that, yes, things are as crazy as they seem. The median asset growth at federally-insured credit unions during the 12 months ending June 30, 2020 was…
New Bank Star-Ratings This Week
Bank Star-Ratings have all been updated based on June 30, 2020 financial data. (Credit Union Star Ratings will be out in a couple of weeks.) We’ve been doing this a long time, and we’ve seen the banking industry go through…
Home Sales Up, But for How Long?
Last week we reported that consumers are paying down their credit card debt. We also mentioned that mortgage debt and mortgage originations were on the rise. Today we are going to delve further into that phenomenon. Tim Ellis, a Senior…
Consumers Focus on Paying Down Debt
Housing takes, by far, the largest bite out of most consumers’ wallets, at least in this country. That’s followed by student debt, automobile loans and then, finally, credit card debt. And, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s…
The Farmer in the Dell Doesn’t Stand Alone
A June 2020 poll taken by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) revealed that 84% of Americans trust American farmers and believe they should receive financial assistance from the government to stay afloat as a result of the pandemic. Yet,…
No Bust Yet in Multi-Family Real Estate
Last week we promised a closer look at multi-family (5 or more) residential real estate. To that end, the 50 banks with the most exposure to multi family home loans (as a percent of total loans) can be found on…