Most Wisconsin bank CEOs expect residential real estate lending demand to

A majority of chief executive officers at Wisconsin banks say the state’s economy is in good shape and most expect conditions to remain the same over the next six months, according to the latest survey from the Wisconsin Bankers Association.

The survey results actually show the bank CEOs as slightly more bearish on the economy than in the middle of the year and at the end of 2024. In the current survey, 79% rated the economy good while 21% described it as fair. In the mid-year survey, 7% said the economy was excellent, 79% said good and 15% said fair.

However, bank CEOs are also seeing stronger demand for commercial real estate loans with 78% describing demand as good or excellent, up from 62% in the middle of the year and 54% a year ago.

Demand for business loans also remained strong with 64% describing demand as good or excellent, about even with 65% at the mid-year and up from 53% a year ago.

In residential real estate lending, 26% said demand is good or excellent, down from 30% in the middle of the year, but up from 18% a year ago.

Deposit demand was down slightly with 53% describing it as good and no respondents describing it as excellent. In the middle of the year, 5% said deposit demand was excellent and 46% described it as good.

Looking ahead, 25% of Wisconsin bank CEOs surveyed expect demand for business lending to grow over the next six months, up from 20% in the middle of the year, but down from 41% a year ago. In all three surveys, the majority expect demand to stay the same.

For commercial real estate, 23% expect demand to grow in the next six months, up from 17% in the middle of the year. Like business lending, most expect demand to stay the same.

On residential real estate, a majority of those surveyed, 59%, expect demand growth over the next six months, up from 20% in the middle of the year and 42% a year ago.

For deposits, two-thirds expect demand to stay the same, nearly unchanged from the middle of the year. There was some shift toward an expectation for weaker deposit demand with 15% expecting demand to decline, up from 11% in the middle of the year.