The Star Advertiser reports that construction lending by Hawaii's banks dropped off during the recession by as much as 66%.  "Construction loans made by the state's top seven banks dwindled to $773 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 66 percent decline from $2.26 billion at the end of 2007, according to a Star-Advertiser analysis of lending data filed with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp."  However, construction lending is expected to increase along with demand in 2012.