Business borrowing outpaces home loans

Commercial lending at local banks took the lead over personal lending in the first quarter when compared with the same period last year, with business loans at nine locally based banks growing 11 percent while individual loans decreased by the same amount.

Figures submitted by local banks to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. show that commercial loans totaled more than $2.2 billion in the first quarter of 2014, compared with slightly more than $2 billion in the same period in 2013.

At the same time, personal loans, which include mortgages, decreased from $34 million in 2013 to $30 million in 2014.

The figures…