Banking Conditions Survey

Special Questions

June 2025

For this survey, respondents were asked supplemental questions about credit standards, loan demand, and succession planning. Data were collected June 17–25, and 69 bankers responded to the survey.

1. How do you expect credit standards and terms to change over the next three months for the following loan categories?

	Ease considerably (percent)	Ease somewhat (percent)	Remain unchanged (percent)	Tighten somewhat (percent)	Tighten considerably (percent)
Commercial and industrial	0.0	3.1	73.4	23.4	0.0
Commercial real estate	0.0	4.7	70.3	25.0	0.0
Residential real estate	0.0	7.6	78.8	13.6	0.0
Consumer	0.0	1.5	80.6	14.9	3.0

NOTES: 67 responses. This question was most recently posed in Apr. '25.

2. How do you expect credit standards and terms to change over the next three months for the following categories of commercial real estate lending?

	Ease considerably (percent)	Ease somewhat (percent)	Remain unchanged (percent)	Tighten somewhat (percent)	Tighten considerably (percent)
Construction and land development	0.0	6.3	60.9	28.1	4.7
Industrial	0.0	4.7	70.3	25.0	0.0
Retail	0.0	1.6	73.4	25.0	0.0
Multifamily	0.0	1.6	64.1	32.8	1.6
Office	0.0	1.6	63.5	27.0	7.9
Hotels/lodging	0.0	3.1	59.4	34.4	3.1
Other	0.0	1.7	83.1	15.3	0.0

NOTES: 64 responses. This question was most recently posed in Apr. '25.

3. Over the past six weeks, how has loan demand changed for the following loan categories?

	Increased	No change	Decreased
Commercial and industrial	17.2	59.4	23.4
Commercial real estate	26.2	43.1	30.8
Residential real estate	20.9	50.7	28.4
Consumer	14.5	56.5	29.0

NOTES: 69 responses. This question was most recently posed in Apr. '25.

4. Over the next six months, how do you expect loan demand to change for the following loan categories?

	Increased	No change	Decreased
Commercial and industrial	27.7	50.8	21.5
Commercial real estate	33.8	41.5	24.6
Residential real estate	29.9	53.7	16.4
Consumer	17.9	68.7	13.4

NOTES: 67 responses. This question was most recently posed in Apr. '25.

5. To understand the current level of lending standards, consider the range of your institution’s lending standards (easiest to tightest) from 2015 to present. Using this range, how would you describe your institution’s current level of lending standards for the following loan categories?

	Near easiest level (percent)	Significantly easier than midpoint (percent)	Somewhat easier than midpoint (percent)	Near midpoint (percent)	Somewhat tighter than midpoint (percent)	Significantly tighter than midpoint (percent)	Near tightest level (percent)
Commercial and industrial	0.0	1.6	10.9	50.0	34.4	3.1	0.0
Commercial real estate	0.0	0.0	15.6	34.4	39.1	10.9	0.0
Residential real estate	0.0	0.0	18.2	51.5	25.8	4.5	0.0
Consumer	0.0	1.5	13.2	52.9	26.5	5.9	0.0
Overall	0.0	0.0	9.1	50.0	37.9	3.0	0.0

NOTE: 68 responses.

6. For the following positions, how concerned are you about your institution’s succession plan, on a level of 1 (not concerned at all) to 5 (extremely concerned)?

	1 (Not concerned at all)	2	3	4	5 (Extremely concerned)
Board of Directors	30.4	31.9	23.2	11.6	2.9
CEO/President	36.2	17.4	26.1	15.9	4.3
Senior management	24.6	31.9	29.0	13.0	1.4
Staff	21.7	39.1	29.0	8.7	1.4
Other	35.0	15.0	40.0	0.0	10.0

NOTE: 69 responses.

7. What business lines or functions generate the most concern with regards to succession planning? Please select the top 3.

	June '25 (percent)
IT/Cybersecurity professionals	81.7
Lending/Loan officers	78.3
Compliance officers/specialists	50.0
Other	20.0
Tellers	8.3

NOTES: 60 responses. Percentages displayed exclude the 13 percent that selected ‘Not Applicable: I have no concerns.’

8. What are the top three reasons underlying the difficulty in hiring or retaining employees for succession roles?

	June '25 (percent)
Candidates lack desired skills or experience	56.5
Individuals are seeking higher pay/better benefits than we are able to offer	53.2
Individuals are retiring from the labor force	43.5
Individuals prefer a different geographic area	32.3
Individuals found career growth opportunities elsewhere	30.6
Individuals are switching out of banking/choosing another industry or occupation	21.0
Individuals are leaving the labor force for reasons other than retirement (care for children, sick spouse, enjoy leisure, etc)	11.3
Other	4.8

NOTES: 62 responses. Percentages displayed exclude the 10 percent that selected ‘Not Applicable: I do not have difficulty hiring.’

9. What steps are you taking (or have taken) to address succession planning issues, if any? Please select all that apply.

	June '25 (percent)
Provide leadership/skills training to existing employees	77.6
Increase wages-salaries and/or benefits	74.6
Partner with colleges for recruitment	38.8
Consolidate positions or implement cross training	35.8
Hire an outside firm to help with recruitment	32.8
Allow for remote or hybrid work	29.9
None	4.5
Downsize operations or curb expansion plans	1.5
Plan to sell the company or merge with another company	1.5
Other	1.5

NOTE: 67 responses.

Special Questions Comments

Survey participants are given the opportunity to submit comments. Some comments have been edited for grammar and clarity.

Succession planning should be a focus for all community banks, either directly or indirectly for the business customers that the bank serves.

Questions regarding the Banking Conditions Survey can be addressed to Mariam Yousuf at mariam.yousuf@dal.frb.org.