Podcast Center
Video Center
Webcasts
Resource Center
Events
By 
August 14, 2019 at 03:46 PM
Household debt in the U.S. has been steadily increasing every quarter for the last five years, and is now $1.2 trillion higher than the previous peak in the third quarter of 2008.
In its latest quarterly report on household debt and credit, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports that total household debt increased 1.4%, to $13.86 trillion in the second quarter of 2019.
Mortgage debt — the single biggest component of household debt — rose $162 billion in the second quarter to $9.4 trillion, surpassing the $9.3 trillion reached in the third quarter of 2008. Mortgage originations, which include mortgage refinances, also rose, increasing $130 billion to $474 billion, the highest volume seen since the third quarter of 2017.
“Mortgage delinquencies and the average credit profile of mortgage borrowers have continued to improve,” said Wilbert van der Klaauw, senior vice president at the New York Fed, in a statement.
That was not the case for student loan, credit card or auto debt.
The share of student loan debt — the second largest component of household debt at $1.48 trillion — that is 90 days or more delinquent rose to a 9.9% annualized rate from 9.4% in the first quarter. Moreover, the actual delinquency rate is likely twice as high because the reported rate excludes loans in deferment, in forbearance or in grace periods, which are therefore not included in the repayment cycle, according to the New York Fed.
