It probably isn’t a big surprise that banks are cracking down on consumer loans, but the Federal Reserve’s latest survey of senior loan officers turns up an interesting twist: consumer demand for loans is also falling dramatically.

The headline-grabbing figures read like a classic credit contraction. Nearly 60 percent of banks said they had tightened lending standards on credit card loans in the past three months, and 70 percent had done so on mortgages to “prime” borrowers with good credit histories.

Half of domestic banks said they had become either somewhat or much less willing to make consumer installment loans, up from 35 percent in the previous survey, for the largest percentage in more than two decades.

Monday’s survey also showed consumers backing away from credit. About half of the banks surveyed reported weaker demand for prime mortgages, up from 30 percent in the July survey. One in four saw weakening demand for home equity lines of credit, more than double the percentage in the July survey. Those loans had been hugely popular during the housing boom from 2002 until 2006, and contributed to a consumer spending binge.

Half of the banks surveyed reported weaker demand for consumer loans of all types over the past three months, up from 30 percent in the previous survey.

So have rising borrowing costs cooled demand, or is this a symptom of cratering consumer confidence? Tell us what you think. Is now the time to borrow or burrow?