WASHINGTON - Credit unions' loan portfolios were up more than $33.2 billion-12.8%-in May from a year ago and $4.3 billion from April, due mainly to an increase of more than 2.2% in new auto loans. That's the greatest one-month increase for new car loans at credit unions in nearly a year, says CUNA. Overall loans at credit unions were up 1.5% in May from April. New auto loans made up 19.5% of credit unions loan portfolios in May. At the same time last year, they accounted for 18.8%. Credit unions also excelled in May in making second mortgages with closed-end loans - up 3% - and home equity loans -up 2.1%. In other highlights for May: * members' savings balances dropped 0.4% ($377.7 billion from $379.3 billion) in May from April. This was mostly caused by a 5.5% decline in share draft balances and a .8% decrease in IRA balances. * CUs' capital-to-assets remained unchanged from April - 11.0%. But that's still higher than CUs' 10.7% capital-to-asset ratio in May 1999. Overall, CU loan delinquencies were also down in May from April - .69% and .71%, respectively. They're still considerably lower than they were in May `99 - .76%. CUs' loan performance is partly due to a high level of consumer confidence. That confidence may decline in the coming months and further increases in credit unions' loan portfolios may be slow in coming, said CUNA's Economic and Statistics Department. As confidence levels begin to slide, fewer households expect to make new auto purchases in the near term. According to the Conference Board's latest consumer confidence report, only 7.3% of households said they planned to purchase a new car in June. That's down from 10.1% of households in May. -
ekingoff@cutimes.com
