Small Business Administration lending in northern and rural Nevada fell by 13 percent in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
The agency said a total of 121 SBA loans totaling $58.1 million were written in areas of Nevada outside of Clark County during the 12-month period.
That compares with 132 loans totaling $67.1 million in the previous fiscal year.
The downturn was the result of sharply lower borrowing in the SBA 504 program, which provides SBA-guaranteed financing for real estate and equipment purchases.
Those loans in northern and rural Nevada totaled $34 million during the last fiscal year compared with $47.4 million a year earlier. The number of 504 loans, 35, was unchanged from year to year.
Statewide, lending in the SBA 504 program totaled 131 loans and $219.4 million during the year.
That's nearly a 65 percent increase in dollar volume from the previous year, when 103 loans totaling $133.8 million were closed statewide in the 504 program.
A spokeswoman for the agency said the sharp increase statewide may indicate a stronger and faster bounce in development projects in Las Vegas.
The SBA 7(a) lending program, which guarantees general-purpose loans to startup and existing businesses, handled 86 loans totaling $24.2 million in northern and rural Nevada in the last fiscal year.
That compares with 97 loans totaling $19.3 million a year earlier. Some of the higher dollar volume may have resulted from an increase in the maximum size of loans in the program to $5 million from $2 million in previous years.
Statewide, the 7(a) program saw 280 loans totaling $86.6 million in the last fiscal year. That compares with 326 loans and lending volume of $107.5 million a year earlier.
