Signs of improvement notwithstanding, credit conditions in some sectors and for some types of borrowers remain tight. Mortgage lending is an important example. Since its peak, U.S. home mortgage credit outstanding has contracted about 13 percent in real terms.
Many factors suggest that this situation will be difficult to turn around quickly, including the slow recovery of the economy and housing market, continued uncertainty surrounding the future of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), the lack of a healthy private-label securitization market, and cautious attitudes by lenders.