Capital One‘s annual industry survey found that despite overall economic uncertainty, more than 75% of asset-backed securities (ABS) professionals (81%) expect buy-side interest to increase in the coming year—a nearly 50% increase from 2016, when only 42% expected an increase for the year ahead.

When asked to name the sector in which they foresee the greatest amount of growth in 2017, 27% of industry professionals stated residential mortgage finance, followed by asset-based loans/factoring (25%) and leveraged loans (18%).

Capital One surveyed professionals at SFIG Vegas 2017 for their views on the ABS market in the next 12 months.

“We are seeing increased optimism and greater expectations for growth in the marketplace compared to 2016,” said David Kucera, senior managing director, Financial Institutions Group at Capital One. “It is clear from our survey results that ABS professionals have a positive outlook towards credit, underwriting and competition in 2017, and they continue to see opportunities in this space.”

Nearly two-thirds of respondents (65%) believe that credit quality will improve or remain the same in 2017, compared to just 46% in 2016. Additionally, a significant number of respondents anticipate that issuers will loosen underwriting standards in the coming year. Nearly half of respondents (47%) said they expect more relaxed standards, compared to only 25% of those surveyed in 2016.

In line with 2016, the vast majority of respondents believe that competition in their asset class will increase or remain the same in the coming year (94%), with only 6% expecting a decrease in competition. In addition, more than half of survey participants (58%) cited regulatory uncertainty as the biggest risk to their business followed by potential increases in interest rates (17%) and limited access to credit (11%).