US Banks Faced Rising Construction Loan Delinquencies in Q1

Construction loan delinquencies at US banks climbed 23.8%  during the first quarter of 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic forced developers to shut down or delay projects, according to Standard & Poors’ Global Market Intelligence Report. 

Delays in some projects were also prompted by government-mandated work stoppages, although lenders said in earnings calls that they were still able to muscle through the downturn.

The pandemic-driven construction loan delinquencies translated to $3.67 billion, according to S&P Market Intelligence data.

Meanwhile, delinquent residential construction loans rose to 1.07 % from 0.97 % in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to S&P.

Among the US banks, Wells Fargo & Co. had potentially the greatest exposure to construction delinquencies during the first quarter with $19.42 billion in loans, largely in commercial real estate.  But that exposure still represented “a relatively slim” 1.89% of Wells Fargo’s total loans and leases, according to S&P market data.

Wells Fargo CFO John Shrewsberry predicted losses for the bank in a news conference earlier this month. Shrewsberry said more than 90% of Wells Fargo loans in its $150 billion commercial real estate book, including construction loans, have loan-to-value ratios below 70%.

“We’ll have people who just can’t make it,” he said. “But the way we underwrite it, the way we service it, the customers we select, in general, for our commercial real estate business, we expect to perform well through the cycle.”

Banks holding the largest share of construction loans in their portfolios were Bank OZK (formerly Bank of the Ozarks) and PacWest Bankcorp. Construction loans accounted for 35 % of Bank OZK’s total loans and leases and 15.53 % of PACWest’s loan portfolios, according to S&P data. 

Bank OZK executives said at the end of the first quarter that the bank’s concentrations in commercial real estate and construction were trending downward over time as its indirect lending and community banking businesses expanded. In an April 24 earnings conference call, Chairman and CEO George Gleason said Bank OZK’s construction loans typically include guarantees that borrowers will complete their projects on time and on budget. But projects on properties linked to travel and leisure have been

“Most of these properties, if you’re completing a property today, you’re probably not starting operations,” he said. “You’re probably just mothballing that project for a month or two or three, until economic conditions become better to restart it.”