Prosper People-to-People Lending Market Survey

San Francisco – October 9, 2007 – Prosper (www.prosper.com), America’s largest people-to-people lending marketplace, today released its September People-to-People Lending Market Survey.  Prosper’s People-to-People Lending Market Survey provides key statistics and a market commentary by Chris Larsen, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Prosper.  

Prosper’s People-to-People Lending Market Survey is released on the second Tuesday of every month.  To register to automatically receive the survey, send an email with “SUBSCRIBE” in the subject line to: p2plendingmarketsurvey@prosper.com.

September 2007 Prosper People-to-People Lending Market Survey 

Membership and Loan Volume Statistics

September

2007

September 2006

2007

Year-to-Date

2006

Year-to-Date

Since

Inception

New Members

28,683

12,988

270,866

79,680

437,316

Funded Loans

$5.4 million

$3.1 million

$62.1 million

$16.8 million

$90.5 million

Average Loan  Size

$7,175

$5,117

$6,986

$4,740

$6,096

Daily Average Number of Borrower Listings

 2,298

1,202

2,213

780

1,406

Estimated Annual Return on Prosper Select Index

September 2007

Prosper Select Index

9.75%

Prime Select Index

9.01%

Near Prime Select Index

10.14%

Sub Prime Select Index

13.20%

Average Borrower Rates on Prosper Select Loans

September

2007

August

2007

September

2006

2007

Year-to-Date

2006

Year-to-Date

Since Inception

Prime Select Loans

9.98%

10.15%

10.15%

10.02%

10.63%

10.12%

Near Prime Select Loans

15.83%

16.83%

 16.03%

15.92%

16.15%

16.08%

Sub Prime Select Loans

24.86%

25.88%

23.44%

23.38%

25.18%

23.97%

Mix of Funded Borrowers

September 2007

September

2006

2007

Year-to-Date

2006

Year-to-Date

Since

Inception

Prime

 30%

21%

30%

26%

28%

Near Prime

62%

56%

57%

50%

55%

Sub Prime

8%

24%

13%

24%

17%

Noteworthy

  

Lowest Default Rate by Occupation

Lowest Default Rate by State

     1)   Computer Programmer  0.96%

     1)   Minnesota  0.00%

     2)   Civil Service  1.48%

     2)   Ohio  0.65%

     3)   Analyst  1.63%

     3)   New Jersey  0.99%

     4)   Mechanical Engineer  1.67%

     4)   Colorado  1.40%

     5)   Electrical Engineer  1.85%

     5)   New York  1.56%

 

Market Commentary by Chris Larsen, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Prosper

            When the Fed cuts interest rates people often expect mortgage rates to drop.  However, this is rarely the case given that mortgage markets typically anticipate rather than react to moves by the Fed.  On the flip side of the coin, the variable credit card and savings rate markets react sometime after the Fed moves.  In fact, some variable credit cards have a 90-day window to make adjustments reflecting the rate cut.  So the question is: did the Prosper marketplace anticipate or react to the Fed rate cut?

            Many might assume that the Prosper marketplace would act less like the mortgage markets and more like the credit card and savings rate markets given that the latter compete with Prosper. Nevertheless, the month over month drop in average borrower rates indicates that the Prosper marketplace may have anticipated the Fed cut. 

           

For example, in September the average borrower rates for all prime and near prime loans funded in the Prosper marketplace were 12.29% and 18.22%, respectively; down 0.37% and 0.28%, respectively, from August. 

What is interesting about these percentage drops is how close they are to what was widely anticipated to be a quarter-point instead of a half-point reduction by the Fed.  However, what remains to be seen is whether the market will continue to push rates down further in line with the Fed’s surprise move.

Definitions

2007 Year-to-Date:  January 1, 2007 through September 30, 2007. 

Since Inception:  November 1, 2005 through September 30, 2007.  Prosper’s by invitation only “friends and family” launch began on November 1, 2005 and Prosper launched to the general public on February 13, 2006.

Prosper Select Index:  The Prosper Select Index return is the estimated average annual return on invested principal, based on actual delinquency performance to date.  The Prosper Select Index includes AA - E credit grade loans for borrowers whose credit reports at the time of application indicated zero current delinquencies, three or fewer credit inquiries, and a debt-to-income ratio of 40 percent or less.  The annual return period reflects loans originated in the twelve month period ending one month prior to the observation date of September 30, 2007.  Prime Select includes AA and A credit grade loans (credit scores of 720+).  Near Prime Select includes B, C, D credit grade loans (credit scores between 600 and 719).  Sub Prime Select includes E credit grade loans (credit scores between 560 and 599).

Average Borrower Rates:  Average Borrower Rates are the weighted average borrower rates on Prosper Select Index loans. Rates shown are interest rates, not annual percentage rates.

Mix of Funded Borrowers:  Prime includes AA and A credit grade loans (credit scores of 720+).  Near Prime includes B, C, D credit grade loans (credit scores between 600 and 719).  Sub Prime includes E and HR credit grade loans (credit scores below 600).

About Prosper
Prosper (www.prosper.com), America’s largest people-to-people lending marketplace, was created to make consumer lending more financially and socially rewarding for everyone.  Prosper’s membership consists of over 440,000 people from across the country.  Since launching in February 2006, over $90 million in loans have been funded in the marketplace.The way Prosper works is intuitive to people who have used eBay.  Instead of listing and bidding on items, people list and bid on loans using Prosper’s online auction platform.  People who register as Prosper lenders set the minimum interest rate they are willing to earn and bid in increments of $50 to $25,000 on loan listings they select.  In addition to criteria commonly used by institutional lenders, such as credit scores and histories, Prosper lenders can consider borrowers’ personal stories and group affiliations.  Groups on Prosper are instrumental in bringing people together for the common goal of borrowing at better rates.  People who want to borrow on Prosper create loan listings for up to $25,000 and set the maximum rate they are willing to pay a lender.  Then the auction begins as Prosper lenders bid down the interest rate.  Once the auction ends, Prosper takes the bids with the lowest rates and combines them into one simple loan to the borrower.  Prosper handles all on-going loan administration tasks including loan repayment and collections on behalf of the matched borrowers and lenders.
Prosper was co-founded by Chris Larsen, co-founder of E-LOAN, and John Witchel, technology entrepreneur.  Backed by Accel Partners, Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, Fidelity Ventures, Meritech Capital, and Omidyar Network, Prosper has raised approximately $40 million.  Prosper’s marketplace platform is patent pending.

 

Blog Traffic Exchange Related Posts
  • cool.gifProsper Risk RGF in the Prosper forums just made the best post I have seen as an introduction to risk on Prosper.  I am reprinting the entire post.  Here is a link. I've seen a lot of comments about the high risk associated with lending on prosper and "only lend what you......
  • RateLadder.com Loan2 New Loans (Part 2/2) — Debt Consolidation — $20,000 at 18.00% — C Credit — DTI 23% A new loan funded this afternoon (Debt Consolidation (Loan #6419) — $20,000 at 18.00%).  I participated via my standing order: Mid DTI -- AF.  Which is this loan was funded as a medium debt to income ratio and was an auto-funding loan.  The borrow had C credit and 23% DTI. ......
  • Borrow Money on Prosper -- Case for Unsecured Debt via Personal Loans Prosper Marketplace, Inc. is a peer-to-peer (p2p) lending marketplace that facilitates 3 year fully amortized loans between lenders and a borrower.  A borrower wants to borrow money and lenders want to earn better than average returns.  The most typical reasons for loans on Prosper are credit card debt consolidation, small business......
  • RateLadder.com LoanNew Loan Funded — Blessings are coming — $10,000 at 26% — D Credit — DTI 84% A new loan funded (Blessings are coming – $10,000 at 26%).  I participated via a manual bid the loan was Autofunding.  The borrower had D credit and 84% DTI and is a homeowner.  As a reminder my standing orders (and manual bids) only find loans with 0 current delinquencies, 10 or less delinquencies in......
  • RateLadder.com LoanNew Loan Funded — Wife wants to get back to work! Please help Re-list — $24,000 at 21.48% — B Credit — DTI 62% A new loan funded (Wife wants to get back to work! Please help Re-list – $24,000 at 21.48%).  I participated via my standing order RL Overlooked.  The borrower had B credit, a 62% DTI, and is a homeowner.  This was a non autofunding loan.  As a reminder my standing orders (and manual......
Blog Traffic Exchange Related Websites
  • A perfect, though sad, example of why Personal Finance should be taught young Of course, you can only teach certain levels of personal finance at certain ages. A 5-year-old probably can't grasp a mutual fund yet. But a 9-year-old should be able to understand a credit card, a loan, and cosigning. Unfortunately, schools don't really teach this kind of stuff. And parents don't......
  • Badger Pass Ski Resort, Yosemite National Park, CABadger Pass Ski Resort, Yosemite National Park, CA Badger Pass Ski Resort is located in: Yosemite National Park, CA Phone: (801) 559-4884 Website: http://www.yosemitepark.com/BadgerPass.aspx About the Resort: If you are planning to stay in the Yosemite area or you are just looking for a great way to spend the weekend, Badger Pass Ski Resort is definitely a place......
  • Who is to Blame for the Credit Crunch? There are many lenders currently under investigation for fraud, perhaps most notably the nation's largest mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial. Even if Countrywide is found to be guilty of fraud, one company alone (even if it is responsible for 20% of the mortgages in the U.S.) cannot be to blame for......
  • Musician Profile for Isaac Stern American violinist Isaac Stern was born on July 21, 1920 and died on September 22, 2001. During his lifetime, he won several prestigious awards, including the 1982 Sonning Award and a number of Grammys. In addition to receiving recognition for his own works, Stern was also known to have a......
  • Will the US lose its AAA rating? This is a guest post from Lee Murray a Financial Advisor for Edward Jones in Fredericksburg, VA. You can contact Lee at Lee.Murray (at) edwardjones.com. There are a lot of variables that go into determining whether or not the US will lose its AAA rating. I will try to summarize......
If you liked this article, vote for it on del.icio.us and stumbleupon.


Categories:

Features, Prosper.com, Statistics



Tags:

,


0 comments ↓

There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.

Leave a Comment

Email Updates