The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data released its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, indicating a rise in total household debt by $93 billion (0.5%) in the fourth quarter of 2024, reaching $18.04 trillion. This data comes from the New York Fed’s Consumer Credit Panel.
The report is accompanied by a Liberty Street Economics blog post focusing on auto loan delinquency rates. Wilbert van der Klaauw, Economic Research Advisor at the New York Fed, stated: “While mortgage delinquency rates are similar to pre-pandemic levels, auto loan delinquency transition rates remain elevated.” He added that high auto loan delinquency rates are widespread across various credit scores and income levels.
Credit card balances rose by $45 billion to $1.21 trillion by December 2024. Auto loans increased by $11 billion to $1.66 trillion, while mortgage balances saw an $11 billion rise to stand at $12.61 trillion. Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) balances increased by $9 billion to reach $396 billion, marking the eleventh consecutive quarterly increase since early 2022. Other consumer loans grew by $8 billion, with student loans also seeing a $9 billion increase to stand at $1.62 trillion.
Mortgage originations slightly picked up with new mortgages totaling $465 billion in Q4 2024. Aggregate limits on credit card accounts grew moderately by 1.3%, or $98 billion, compared to the previous quarter, while HELOC limits increased by another $8 billion.
Overall delinquency rates saw a slight increase from the prior quarter with 3.6% of outstanding debt in some stage of delinquency. Most debt types experienced stable delinquency transition rates except for credit cards which saw a minor uptick in transitions from current to delinquent status. Serious delinquencies—those over 90 days past due—increased for auto loans, credit cards, and HELOCs but remained steady for mortgages.
