U.S. Household Debt Passes 2008 Peak

Household debt in the United States reached $12.73 trillion in the first quarter of 2017, finally surpassing its $12.68 trillion peak reached in the third quarter of 2008, the height of the financial crisis.

This marked a $149 billion quarterly increase and “nearly three years of continued growth since the long period of deleveraging following the Great Recession,” according to the Quarterly Report on Household Debt & Credit, issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Other findings of the Fed report:

• Mortgage balances, the largest component of household debt, reached $8.63 trillion as of March 31, a $147 billion rise from the fourth quarter of 2016.
• Balances on home equity lines of credit fell slightly in the first quarter, down $17 billion to $456 billion.
• Non-housing debt saw mixed changes, an increase of $10 billion in auto loans and $34 billion in student loan balances, and a $15 billion drop in credit card balances.