On Friday, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data today issued its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, which shows that total household debt increased by $219 billion (1.6%) to $13.51 trillion in the third quarter of 2018. It was the 17th consecutive quarter with an increase and the total is now $837 billion higher than the previous peak of $12.68 trillion in the third quarter of 2008.
The Report is based on data from the New York Fed’s Consumer Credit Panel, a nationally representative sample of individual- and household-level debt and credit records drawn from anonymized Equifax credit data. Overarching trends from the Report’s summary include:
Housing Debt
- Mortgage originations increased to $445 billion from $437 billion in the second quarter.
- Mortgage delinquencies were roughly flat, with 1.1% of mortgage balances 90 or more days delinquent in the third quarter.
Non-Housing Debt
- Outstanding student loan debt increased by $37 billion and stood at $1.44 trillion as of September 30.
- Auto loan balances increased by $27 billion to $1.27 trillion in 2018Q3.
- Credit card balances rose by $15 billion to $844 billion.
Delinquencies, Collection Accounts, and Credit Inquiries
- Mortgage delinquency transition rates increased slightly with about 1.2% of current balances transitioning into delinquency.
- The number of credit inquiries within the past six months—an indicator of consumer credit demand—increased slightly, but remains among the lowest seen in the history of the data.