Recession Watch: Cars and Houses Join The List

As traumatized banks pull back, subprime lending evaporates

Banks were already tightening lending standards before Silicon Valley Bank imploded. This chart is from Q4 2022:

Since then the tightening has become a full-fledged rout. It’s now much harder to get a mortgage or a car loan, especially for less-credit-worthy borrowers in overheated markets.

Meanwhile, interest rates are rising again, with the average 30…