NEW YORK—The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data today issued its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit . The report shows total household debt increased by $109 billion (0.6%) in Q2 2024, to $17.80 trillion. The report is based on data from the New York Fed’s nationally representative Consumer Credit Panel. It includes a one-page summary of key takeaways and their supporting data points.
The New York Fed also issued an accompanying Liberty Street Economics blog post examining growing balances of home equity lines of credit (HELOC).
“The volume of mortgage originations remained low, primarily due to subdued refinancing activity.” said Andrew Haughwout, Director of Household and Public Policy Research at the New York Fed. “Homeowners continued to increase HELOC balances as an alternative way to extract home equity.”
Mortgage balances rose by $77 billion from the previous quarter and reached $12.52 trillion at the end of June. HELOC balances increased by $4 billion, representing the ninth consecutive quarterly increase since Q1 2022, and stood at $380 billion. This is a $63 billion increase from the series low reached in Q3 2021. Credit card balances increased by $27 billion to $1.14 trillion. Auto loan balances saw a $10 billion increase and stood at $1.63 trillion. Other balances, which include retail cards and other consumer loans, were effectively flat, with a $1 billion increase.
Mortgage originations continued increasing at about the same pace seen in the previous four quarters and stood at $374 billion. Aggregate limits on credit card accounts increased modestly by $69 billion, representing a 1.4% increase from the previous quarter. Limits on HELOC increased by $3 billion, the ninth consecutive quarterly increase.
Aggregate delinquency rates were unchanged from the previous quarter, with 3.2% of outstanding debt in some stage of delinquency. Delinquency transition rates for credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages increased slightly. Over the last year, approximately 9.1% of credit card balances and 8.0% of auto loan balances transitioned into delinquency. Early delinquency transition rates for mortgages increased by 0.1 percentage point yet remained low by historic standards. About 136,000 consumers had a bankruptcy notation added to their credit reports in Q2 2024, an increase from the previous quarter in line with pre-pandemic seasonal trends.Household Debt and Credit Developments as of Q2 2024
| Category | Quarterly Change * (Billions $) | Annual Change** (Billions $) | Total As of Q1 2024 (Trillions $) |
| Mortgage Debt | (+) $77 | (+) $505 | $12.519 |
| Home Equity Line of Credit | (+) $4 | (+) $40 | $0.38 |
| Student Debt | (-) $10 | (-) $16 | $1.585 |
| Auto Debt | (+) $10 | (+) $44 | $1.626 |
| Credit Card Debt | (+) $27 | (+) $111 | $1.142 |
| Other | (+) $1 | (+) 17 | $0.544 |
| Total Debt | (+) $109 | (+) $733 | $17.80 |
*Change from Q1 2024 to Q2 2024
** Change from Q2 2023 to Q2 2024
Flow into Serious Delinquency (90 days or more delinquent)
| Category1 | Q2 2023 | Q2 2024 |
| Mortgage Debt | 0.63% | 0.95% |
| Home Equity Line of Credit | 0.44% | 0.51% |
| Student Loan Debt | 0.85% | 0.77% |
| Auto Loan Debt | 2.41% | 2.88% |
| Credit Card Debt | 5.08% | 7.18% |
| Other | 4.65% | 5.42% |
| ALL | 1.16% | 1.59% |
About the Report
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Household Debt and Credit Report provides unique data and insight into the credit conditions and activity of U.S. consumers. Based on data from the New York Fed’s Consumer Credit Panel, a nationally representative sample drawn from anonymized Equifax credit data, the report provides a quarterly snapshot of household trends in borrowing and indebtedness, including data about mortgages, student loans, credit cards, auto loans and delinquencies. The report aims to help community groups, small businesses, state and local governments and the public to better understand, monitor, and respond to trends in borrowing and indebtedness at the household level. Sections of the report are presented as interactive graphs on the New York Fed’s Household Debt and Credit Report web page and the full report is available for download.
