SBA Hot Topic Tuesday — SBA Sets New Lending Records: 7(a) $24 Billion, 504 $4.7 Billion
November 8, 2016
By Bob Coleman
Editor, SBA Hot Topic Tuesday
SBA Hot Topic Tuesday — SBA Sets New Lending Records: 7(a) $24 Billion, 504 $4.7 Billion
SBA approved more than 70,000 loans in the 7(a) and 504 loan programs in FY16 — nearly $29 billion.
SBA claims the loans support nearly 700,000 jobs.
SBA 7(a) Program Ten-Year Annual Stats
| Year | Number of Loans | Gross Loan Amount (Billions) | Average Loan Size | Average Guaranty % | Loan Volume % Change |
| 2016 | 64,000 | $24.1 | $376,600 | 73% | +3% |
| 2015 | 63,500 | $23.5 | $370,100 | 73% | +22% |
| 2014 | 52,000 | $19.2 | $368,700 | 73% | +7% |
| 2013 | 46,400 | $17.8 | $388,000 | 73% | +18% |
| 2012 | 44,400 | $15.1 | $341,000 | 73% | -23% |
| 2011 | 53,700 | $19.6 | $365,000 | 78% | +57% |
| 2010 | 47,000 | $12.5 | $264,000 | 81% | +34% |
| 2009 | 44,200 | $9.3 | $210,000 | 80% | -29% |
| 2008 | 69,500 | $12.7 | $183,000 | 71% | -11% |
| 2007 | 99,600 | $14.3 | $143,000 | 69% | 0% |
504 Loan Program
In FY16, the 504 program grew by more than 10 percent to $4.74 billion (the third consecutive year of growth) and a 2 percent growth in loan volume.
Other Areas of Record-Setting Lending
Minority business owners received a record combined $8.65 billion in 7(a) and 504 approved lending.
Women-owned businesses
For the fifth consecutive year, 7(a) lending to women-owned businesses (both majority and minority owned) increased in total dollar and volume. FY16 lending was nearly $7.3 billion, an increase of $253 million from FY15.
504 loans are up for the third year in a row. FY16 504 lending exceeded $646.6 million with lending to women-owned businesses increasing by 5.9 percent or $36.3 million over the previous year.
Community Advantage
Community Advantage Loans provide up to an 85 percent guarantee on loans up to $250,000 and offers technical assistance to improve the rate of success among participants. This initiative grew by nearly 19 percent over the previous year:
| Fiscal Year | Approved Loans | Approved Dollars |
| 2016 | 987 | $123,025,000 |
| 2015 | 828 | $103,516,100 |
| 2014 | 453 | $56,473,500 |
| 2013 | 273 | $38,199,800 |
| 2012 | 188 | $25,240,900 |
| 2011 | 15 | $2,142,800 |
Microloans
This program reached record levels again this year with 14 percent growth in dollar amount from $53 million to $60.57 million, and a more than 18 percent increase in loan approvals.
| Fiscal Year | Approved Loans | Approved Dollars |
| 2011 | 4,051 | $47,580,764 |
| 2012 | 4,291 | $46,866,362 |
| 2013 | 5,339 | $55,413,889 |
| 2014 | 4,039 | $57,701,354 |
| 2015 | 3,757 | $52,998,066 |
| 2016 | 4,458 | $60,569,469 |
Veterans
The total number of SBA loans to veterans is up more than 4 percent over the previous year and for the second year in a row 7(a)/504 lending to this group surpassed $1.36 billion.
Exporting
In FY16 SBA had another record year guaranteeing more than 1,800 small business export loans, which supported more than $1.5 billion in financing to small business exporters.