With Lending Club’s revamped statistics pages, investors have gained a much better idea of what types of loans perform better than others. Previously, investors had some hints about what typed of loans performed better from the company’s webcasts, but now Lending Club publishes the average rate of return for loans based on the purpose that they were taken out for.

Lending Club asks borrowers to report what the purpose of their loan is for. Almost half of all Lending Club’s loans are debt consolidation loans. The current categories that Lending Club lists includes automobile financing, loans to purchase environmentally friendly appliances or vehicles, general debt consolidation, credit card debt consolidation, home improvement, wedding expenses, vacations, major purchases, small business, moving expenses, education investment and other.

Out of all of the different types of loans that Lending Club lists, loans for vacations and weddings seem to perform particularly well, averaging 9.96% and 9.87% rates of return respectively, after all late payments and fees are considered. Financing for renewable energy products also performed particularly well at 10.28%.

Borrowers that are refinancing their debt also seem to provide a much better rate of return than some of the other loan purposes. Borrowers listing a “general debt consolidation” return an average of 9.74% and borrowers hoping to consolidate their credit cards return an average of 10.42% rate of return after all expenses, late payments and defaults are considered.

Here’s a graph showing how different loans perform:

Loan types that performed poorly include loans for home purchases and moving expenses, which returned rates of 6.96% and 4.85% respectively. It’s logical that borrowers looking to get a loan for a down payment of a home or for a home had higher default rates since it means they probably weren’t able to get traditional financing or had over-leveraged themselves in buying a home.

The very low rate of return on moving expenses could be a result of the fact there are very few loans made in that category and that individuals needing to borrow money to make a move happen probably don’t have very much in savings.

By reviewing loan types and only selecting loans that meet specific criteria based on the purpose of the loan and the credit ratings, investors should be able to make much wiser decisions about the loans they invest in and hopefully bring in a much better rate of return.

Lending Club originated a total of $6.3 million in new loans during the month of October, making it the fastest growing peer-to-peer lending firm in the United States.

The company has seen significant growth in the number of loans that it has originated during the last several months. In fact, the amount of loans that the company is originating on a monthly basis has been growing at an astonishing 10% per month.

Prosper Marketplace, Lending Club’s primary competitor, originated about $2 million in loans during October. Prosper, which had been originating over $7 million in new loans a month at its peak, has struggled to get back on its feet after settling with the SEC over selling unlicensed securities. Now that Prosper.com is originating loans again, the company has yet to regain the moment it once had.

Prosper.com has recently launched a major ad campaign online and on cable television in hopes of sparking renewed interest in the company, but unless the company gets a new round of venture capital in the near future, Lending Club may be the only real option for peer-to-peer lending in the United States.

Lending Club is originating loans at a much faster pace than its competitor Prosper Marketplace, but in terms of the total dollar amount of loans that each company has originated, Prosper is still number one. Prosper Marketplace has originated over $182 million in loans since 2005 and Lending Club has originated over $67 million since the company launched in 2007.

Investors that make use of the peer-to-peer lending firm, Lending Club, recently gained access to a lot of new data that will help them make better decisions as to what types of loans they should fund and which ones they should avoid. Lending Club’s new statistics page provides details about what types of loans perform better based on credit risk, purpose of the loan and information about the borrower.

One of the questions that frequently comes up is whether or not it’s better to invest in high-risk or low-risk loans. With high-risk loans, you will receive a better interest rate, but the borrower is likely to have lower credit and a higher likelihood of default. With borrowers that have A and B credit ratings on Lending Club, the default rates will likely be much lower, however, the amount of interest that you’ll receive will also be lower.

Investors have to make the decision as to whether or not the extra risk that they are taking on with high risk investors is worth the extra percentage points that they will earn in interest. Lending Club’s new statistics page makes that decision a lot easier.

Here’s a chart that Lending Club has on their statistics page about how different credit rating loans perform:

As you can see, loans from borrowers with C, D and E credit ratings seem to perform the best. “A” rated loans have averaged a 7.94% rate of return after all defaults, late payments and expenses. “B” rate loans return an average of 8.82%. “C” rated loans return an average of 9.65% and “D” rated loans return an average of 10.05%. “E” rated loans return an average of 10.23. “F” rated loans return an average of 5.49% and “G” rated loans return an average of 10.76%

Based on Lending Club’s statistics, it might appear that “G” rated loans are the best deal, but you’re really only getting an average half of percentage more, and it’s probably not worth the volatility and risk you’re taking on from high-risk borrowers.

Loans in the “C”, “D” and “E” range are probably the “sweet spot” for the amount of risk that you should take on compared to the interest rate you receive. It’s important to remember that you’re still taking on risk. About 9% of Lending Club loans will go delinquent during some point over the course of the loan, and if you’re not comfortable letting that happen, you might want to stick to lower risk loans.