California counties borrow less, but take out more

10/17/2011

According to recent data from the U.S. Small Business Administration, lenders in the SBA's Santa Ana, California, district showed some interesting lending patterns, the Orange County Register reports.

The SBA guaranteed 1,487 loans, worth $1.18 billion, to counties covered under the Santa Ana district - Orange, Riverside and San Bernadino. While the amount of loans represents a decline from 2010's 1,597, total value substantially increased from last year's $871 million. This data proves that small businesses in this district borrowed less, but those that did took out larger loans.

In total, 117 lenders made 7(a) SBA loans, up from 110 the previous year. The biggest loan providers for the area were CDC Small Business Finance Corporation - 189 loans - JPMorgan Chase - 170 loans - and Wells Fargo - 151 loans.

SBA loan approvals were up across the nation during the 2011 fiscal year, reaching $30.5 billion from 61,689 loans. This is a marked increased from 2010's $22.6 billion on just over 60,000 loans, and 2009's $17.9 billion on just over 50,000 loans.