Total household debt increased by $109 billion or 0.6% to $17.8 trillion in the second quarter of 2024, according to the latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Mortgage balances increased $77 billion to reach $12.52 trillion in Q2, the New York Fed said. Auto loans rose by $10 billion to reach $1.63 trillion and credit card balances increased by $27 billion to reach $1.14 trillion. The volume of mortgage originations remained low, primarily due to subdued refinancing activity.
Homeowners continued to increase balances on home equity lines of credit as an alternative way to extract home equity; HELOC limits rose by $3 billion, marking the ninth consecutive quarterly increase, according to the report. Aggregate delinquency rates remained unchanged from the previous quarter, with 3.2% of outstanding debt in some stage of delinquency.