ATLANTA — Rising to levels rarely seen in past three years, Equifax discovered this week that new-loan originations between January and June climbed 15 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

At 1.7 million, Equifax indicated June loan origination totals were slightly lower than March's sum of 1.8 million — the highest 2011 monthly total to date. Still, the firm emphasized June's level represented an almost 11-percent increase above the same month in 2010.

As a monthly total, analysts also pointed out June's total is higher than the 1.6 million loan originations generated in August 2009. That's when the heavily promoted Cash for Clunkers program was in play.

Equifax also learned this week that the loan origination total for the first six months of this year stands at 9.6 million, which remains lower than totals in excess of 10 million for the same time period during the pre-recession years of 2006 through 2008.

 
In contrast, Equifax pointed out loan origination totals for first halves of 2009 and 2010 were 7.5 million and 8.3 million, respectively.

Additional noteworthy findings year-over-year analysts highlighted include:

—Notable discrepancy in percentages of subprime loans originated by banks/credit unions/savings and loans versus auto finance companies.

—Less than 10 percent of bank/credit union/savings and loan-originated loans to borrowers with Equifax Credit Scores below 600.

—25 percent of auto finance company-originated loans to borrowers with Equifax Credit Scores below 600.

—January to June total new-loan amounts are up by almost 17 percent over the same period in 2010, but still lag behind 2006 to 2008 pre-recession levels.

—June luxury vehicles loans (contracts for $40,000 or more) are exceeding pre-recession level from June 2007.

"Auto lending continues to be one of the most promising lending sectors today based on the data," explained Michael Koukounas, senior vice president of special client services for Equifax.

"If this momentum can be maintained through the remainder of the year, 2011 year-end totals should reflect a comparable return to normalcy to pre-recession lending levels," Koukounas added.