Making matters even worse, these problems led to what is euphemistically referred to as the “credit crunch.” Credit crunch, or credit crisis, means a financial environment where investment capital is in short supply and only made available at a high cost and to a more limited set of borrowers. The typical debt-to-equity ratios have been skewed, and there is a mad push to raise equity pools of capital to offset the lack of availability and accessibility to the credit markets that usually are the drivers of real estate transactions and the housing markets. It is a period where growth in debt money slows down, which subsequently leads to a drying up of liquidity in an economy. In such a situation, the banks will not or cannot lend, and investors cannot or will not buy debt. It is characterized by a reduction (usually a sudden reaction, thereby resulting in a “crisis”) in the availability of loans or an increase (and in this case, a very sudden one) in the cost of obtaining a loan from the banks. Because of the huge losses suffered by mortgage lenders and investment banks, commercial banks in general became wary of offering credit to subprime borrowers. Because the debt instruments were both riskier and more opaque and complex—in particular, the CDOs—the markets in those instruments became illiquid and the ability to sell the instruments and realize cash was diminished.
But then the crisis moved even beyond the general securities market. The multidimensional drying up of liquidity characterized by diverse concerns led to an even wider crisis—what is referred to as a “credit/liquidity crunch,” which is affecting all types of transactions, beyond real estate—and has crept into merger-and-acquisition deals and general business growth financing. While this universal caution in the credit market may not necessarily have bad effects, and may even promote responsible lending, it is characterized by an increased pessimism about the creditworthiness of the participants in such a market. This has resulted in banks hoarding liquidity and making access to credit difficult.