Household debt increased by $228 billion in the third quarter of 2023, according to a recent New York Fed report.
11/07/2023 11:45 A.M.
2 minute read
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data released its Q3 Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit Tuesday, detailing trends in household borrowing and indebtedness, including data about mortgages, student loans, credit cards and auto loans.
The report found that total household debt in Q3 2023 increased by $228 billion (1.3%) to $17.29 trillion. Balances have now increased by $3.1 trillion since the end of 2019, just before the pandemic recession.
The report is based on data from the New York Fed’s nationally representative Consumer Credit Panel.
Major findings from the report include:
- Mortgage balances shown on consumer credit reports increased by $126 billion during the third quarter of 2023 and stood at $12.14 trillion at the end of September.
- Balances on home equity lines of credit (HELOC) increased by $9 billion, and now stand at $349 billion in aggregate.
- Credit card balances, which are now at $1.08 trillion outstanding, increased by $48 billion (4.7%).
- Auto loan balances increased by $13 billion, continuing the upward trajectory that has been in place since 2011, and now stand at $1.6 trillion.
- Other balances, which include retail cards and other consumer loans, were effectively flat, with a $2 billion increase.
- Student loan balances grew by $30 billion and now stand at $1.6 trillion.
- In total, non-housing balances grew by $93 billion.
- As of September, 3% of outstanding debt was in some stage of delinquency, up by 0.4 percentage points from the second quarter yet 1.7 percentage points lower than the fourth quarter of 2019.
- Annualized, approximately 8% of credit card balances and 7.4% of auto loan balances transitioned into delinquency, with credit card delinquency transitions showing a 0.8 percentage point increase.
- Increases in credit card delinquency were the sharpest among borrowers between ages 30-39.
- Delinquency transition rates for mortgages increased by 0.2 percentage points.
- About 116,000 consumers had a bankruptcy notation added to their credit reports in 2023 Q3, slightly more than in the previous quarter.
- Approximately 4.7% of consumers have a third-party collection account on their credit report.
Read the New York Fed’s quarterly report and the Liberty Street Economics blog post for more findings.
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