We knew the numbers would be big, and now we know just how big.


Last year, real estate-backed loans in Spokane County shot up by 24.1 percent, to $5.38 billion from $4.19 billion in 2002, says RMS Information Services, of Kaysville, Utah, which compiles such data.


All the banks have seen the benefit of the low interest rates, says Bob Wigren, U.S. Banks region president for Spokane and north-central Washington. I think almost everybody in the country who wanted to refinance did last year.


Throughout 2003, lenders reported that the lowest mortgage rates in decades were driving a crush of residential mortgage refinancings and providing powerful incentives for people to buy new homes and sell their old homes, fueling mortgage lending even more.


The extent to which homeowners refinanced or bought and sold homes shows up in the figures for first-mortgage loans in Spokane County, which jumped an eye-popping 40.2 percent last year, to $4.04 billion from $2.88 billion the year before.


Real estate-backed second mortgages also skyrocketed, to $507.3 million, up 38.6 percent from $366.1 million in 2002.


Don Young, Wells Fargo Banks Spokane-based community bank president for Eastern Washington, says that much of the second-mortgage loan volume represents lines of credit taken out by consumers who havent yet tapped the full amount.


A substantial amount of that is available credit when needed, Young says.


Washington Mutual Bank led the market here in real estate-backed lending, with $755 million in such loans, up from $570.9 million in 2002. It also led in first-mortgage loans, with $640.4 million, up from $497.5 million a year earlier, and in second-mortgage loans, with $105.4 million, nearly double its $55.3 million in such loans in 2002.


Among first-mortgage lenders, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage placed second with $456.7 million in loans. In second mortgages, Washington Trust Bank, of Spokane, was No. 2 with $55.8 million.


The types of increases seen in the Spokane County market in 2003 wont be duplicated this year, Wigren projects.


We are not expecting anything close to that, he says. We are predicting its going to be significantly less in 2004. Rates just cant come down much more.


In recent months, U.S. mortgage rates have reversed themselves and risen.


Meanwhile, real estate-backed commercial loans trailed off last year, to $831.3 million, down 13.2 percent from the $944.1 million rung up in 2002.


Thats probably just a sign of our overall economy, Wigren says. He says that businesses made fewer real estate-backed loans here last year because of their concerns about economic softness. Yet, he adds, I think were starting to see an upturn in such lending now.


Says Young, I dont think it necessarily means well see decreased values of (commercial) real estate. Rather, businesses were adjusting to events during 2003, he says, adding, I think were going to see more activity in real estate-backed commercial loans.


Washington Trust led in real estate-backed commercial lending in Spokane County last year, posting $90.4 million in such loans. Its total was much lower, however, than the $146.4 million it posted in 2003.


People were hestitant to buy new commercial property, says Peter Stanton, Washington Trusts chairman and CEO. While there was some refinancing activity on the commercial side, people were kind of keeping their powder dry to see what the economy does before they bought property for more commercial facilities. While the level of economic activity here was reasonable, it wasnt setting any records, he says.


Stanton projects loan growth of 6 percent to 9 percent in 2004.


American West Bank, with $58.5 million in real estate-backed commercial loans, posted the second-highest figure in the county for real estate-backed commercial loans.


For a list of the top 20 real estate lenders here last year, see page A18 of our print edition.