BANKING

FDIC Loosens Appraisal Rules: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said it will no longer require banks to make appraisals for real estate loans of less than $250,000. The previous limit was $100,000. The agency made the change in an effort to make home loans easier to obtain and to cut lenders’ red tape, but appraisers warned that it could lead to an increase in the number of bad loans and create a 1980s-style banking crisis. The FDIC’s new rule won’t save many consumers money, some lenders said, because it does not apply to thrifts and because the Federal National Mortgage Assn. and most other companies that buy notes from lenders on the secondary market still require appraisals for all the loans they purchase.