First the good news: The larger U.S. banks are coming back, and the banking system as a whole is slowly getting healthier.
According to FDIC’s latest report. 81% of banks were profitable in the third quarter — the highest percentage since the middle of 2008, before Lehman went bust and everything fell apart.
Now the bad news: The number of banks on the FDIC’s “problem bank” list continued to rise — to 860, the highest number since the early 1990s. Most on the list are small to medium size banks.
Click on real estate banking chart to enlarge.
The big question: What impact will the rise in “problem small banks” have on Boston real estate buyers obtaining a mortgage?
Boston real estate agents in my office, are telling me that several of their buyers are jumping through hoops to obtain their mortgage approval. What do you see out there?
