Bank lenders are planning a cautious comeback

Keep an eye out for bank originations to increase in 2025 as more banks come back into the market. Strong underwriting and quality deals will be key factors in getting loans done. Even with this pick up, banks will remain selective due to elevated interest rates, regulatory scrutiny and economic uncertainty. Large money-center banks are active and offer attractive rates but with high credit/underwriting criteria, while regional and community banks are slowly re-entering the game. Some community and regional banks have delinquent loans on their books that they have been extending and pretending for more than 12 to 18 months and rates are not low enough to heal these loans just yet.