Total household debt increased by $93 billion, or 0.5%, in the fourth quarter 2024 to $18.04 trillion, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in its most recent Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit.
Credit card balances increased by $45 billion to $1.21 trillion, the New York Fed said. Auto loan balances rose $11 billion to $1.66 trillion. Mortgage balances increased by $11 billion from the previous quarter and reached $12.61 trillion at the end of December. HELOC balances rose by $9 billion, representing the eleventh consecutive quarterly increase since Q1 2022, and stood at $396 billion. Other balances, which include retail cards and other consumer loans, grew by $8 billion. Student loan balances grew by $9 billion and now stand at $1.62 trillion.
Aggregate delinquency increased slightly from the previous quarter, with 3.6% of outstanding debt in some stage of delinquency. Delinquency transition rates held steady for nearly all debt types, excluding credit cards, which had a small uptick from current to delinquent.
