Total household debt increased slightly by $16 billion, or 0.1%, to $17.06 trillion in the second quarter of 2023, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest quarterly report on household debt and credit, released today.
Mortgage balances were largely unchanged from the previous quarter and stood at $12.01 trillion at the end of June, in large part due to declining mortgage originations and the slowing growth in home prices, according to the report. Credit card balances increased by $45 billion, from $986 billion in Q1 to a series high of $1.03 trillion in Q2, marking a 4.6% quarterly increase. Auto loan balances rose by $20 billion while student loan balances fell by $35 billion.
Delinquency rates were roughly flat in Q2 and remained low, the New York Fed said. The share of debt newly transitioning into delinquency increased for credit cards and auto loans, with increases in transition rates of 0.7% and 0.4% respectively. In an accompanying blog post on credit card lending and repayment, the New York Fed noted that despite the toll inflation has taken on consumers, there is little evidence of widespread distress on households.
