For the first time in four years, loans that are 90 days or more past due have decreased instead of increased. While this is no doubt a good sign for the housing industry, it comes just days after the National Association of Realtors reported a record 27% drop home sales.
According to Reuters the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp earned $21.6 billion during the quarter largely due to banks putting away less money to cover expected loan losses.
During the first quarter, the industry earned $17.8 billion.
In other signs of improvement, the total assets of banks characterized as "problem" institutions fell during the quarter to $403 billion from $431 billion, and the FDIC's insurance fund increased by $5.5 billion during the quarter.
But there are still troubling indicators.
