Credit unions saw new auto loan balances hit $100 billion for the very first time, with loans for new vehicles up 16.9 percent in the past year, according to the latest monthly Credit Union Trends Report from CUNA Mutual Group, the leading provider of lending, insurance and wealth management products for credit unions.1
The report notes that strong consumer fundamentals are driving this growth, namely an improving labor market, low interest rates, rising wage growth and low oil prices. These trends also pushed credit unions to a record volume of first mortgage loans in the first nine months of 2015, 39 percent higher than the first nine months of 2014.1
“2015 was a very strong year for credit unions, both from the perspective of auto loan and mortgage growth as well as credit union membership, which rose faster in 2015 than in any time in credit union history,” said Steven Rick, chief economist, CUNA Mutual Group. “Heading into 2016, with the economic picture continuing to improve, and the Fed adding its own vote of confidence with its recent interest rate hike, the outlook is quite strong for credit unions and the hardworking families they serve.”
Total credit union membership reached 105.3 million in October, up 4.3 percent from the previous October, marking the fastest pace in over 20 years.1 Year-to-date through October 2015, credit unions added 3.9 million new members, faster than the 2.6 million added through October 2014.1
The full CUNA Mutual Group report can be found here.