Total household debt reached $17.5 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the New York Fed’s Latest report.
02/06/2024 12:45 P.M.
2 minute read
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data released its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit Tuesday, showing that total household debt increased by $212 billion (1.2%) in the fourth quarter of 2023, to $17.5 trillion.
The report is based on data from the New York Fed’s nationally representative Consumer Credit Panel.
The New York Fed also issued an accompanying Liberty Street Economics blog post examining the composition of auto loan balances and performance by age and income. The Quarterly Report includes a one-page summary of key takeaways and their supporting data points.
“Credit card and auto loan transitions into delinquency are still rising above pre-pandemic levels,” said Wilbert van der Klaauw, economic research advisor at the New York Fed. “This signals increased financial stress, especially among younger and lower-income households.”
Key findings of the report include:
- Mortgage balances rose by $112 billion from the previous quarter and stood at $12.25 trillion at the end of December.
- Balances on home equity lines of credit (HELOC) increased by $11 billion, the seventh consecutive quarterly increase after Q1 2022, and now stand at $360 billion.
- Credit card balances increased by $50 billion to $1.13 trillion.
- Auto loan balances rose by $12 billion, continuing the upward trajectory seen since 2020, and now stand at $1.61 trillion.
- Mortgage originations continued at a similar pace as seen in the previous two quarters, and now stand at $394 billion.
- Aggregate limits on credit card accounts increased modestly by $74 billion, representing a 1.6% increase from the previous quarter.
- Limits on HELOC grew by $24 billion and have grown by 10% over the past two years, after 10 years of observed declines.
- Aggregate delinquency rates increased in Q4 2023, with 3.1% of outstanding debt in some stage of delinquency at the end of December.
- Delinquency transition rates increased for all debt types, except for student loans.
- Annualized, approximately 8.5% of credit card balances and 7.7% of auto loans transitioned into delinquency.
- Delinquency transition rates for mortgages increased by 0.2 percentage points yet remain low by historic standards.
- Serious credit card delinquencies increased across all age groups, notably with younger borrowers surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
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