WASHINGTON -- Loan growth just barely exceeded savings growth between August and July, according to CUNA's Monthly Credit Union Estimates.

Credit union loans grew 1.3% in August, 4.8% year-to-date and 6.7% over the past 12 months. Savings balances increased 1% in August, largely due to a payday falling the last day of the month, according to CUNA. Year-to-date savings growth is at and over the last year, it is up 7.1%.

The loan-to-share ratio rose from 82.3% in July to 82.6% in August. CUNA data shows the loan-to-share ratio has been above 80% for the last 13 months with the exception of March 2007.

The liquidity ratio, a function of surplus funds maturing in less than one year divided by borrowings plus other liabilities, was 18.1% in August, representing an increase of about 1.5 percentage points from last year.

Though the capital-to-asset ratio dipped from 11.5% to 11.4% in August, it is still very healthy. CUNA also pointed out that "the total dollar amount of capital went from $81.9 billion in August 2006 to $87.7 billion in August 2007, a 7.1% increase."

Additionally, asset quality has held steady with delinquencies over 60 days at 0.7% for the last five months despite the troubled mortgage market. In fact, "other" mortgage loans and adjustable rate mortgages accounted for two of the top three loans product growths (3.1% and 2.6% respectively) for credit unions last month. Other loans experienced the most growth at 3.3%.

Share drafts led growth at 5.7% for the month due to the payday effect. Certificates, individual retirement accounts, and money market accounts increased, 1.1%, 0.7%, and 0.3%, respectively, while regulatory shares were down slightly.

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