U.S. Household Debt Reaches $13.67 Trillion

Household debt in the United States rose for the 19th straight quarter, reaching $13.67 trillion as of March 31. It’s now 7.8% or $993 billion higher than the previous peak of $12.68 trillion, reached in the third quarter of 2008.

Overall household debt is now 22.5% higher than its trough in the second quarter of 2013, according to the Quarterly Report on Household Debt & Credit, released in May by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Other findings of the report:

► Mortgage balances as of March 31 totaled $9.2 trillion, a $120 billion increase compared with fourth-quarter 2018.

► Balances on home equity lines of credit declined slightly, by $6 billion, continuing a trend begun in 2009. They stood at $406 billion in first-quarter 2019.

► Nonhousing debt rose by $10 billion in the first quarter, with a $6 billion increase in auto loan balances and a $29 billion increase in student loan balances, offset by a $22 billion decline in credit card balances.

► Aggregate delinquency rates remained steady in the first quarter of 2019. As of March 31, 4.6% of outstanding debt was in some stage of delinquency. Of the $623 billion of debt that is delinquent, $417 billion is seriously delinquent, at least 90 days late.