Credit Default Rates Fall to Eight-Year Low

U.S. consumer credit defaults in April declined from the previous month to 1.1%, falling to the lowest mark since June 2006, according to the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices.

Bank card and second mortgage default rates, however, actually increased in April. The bank card rate was 2.84% and the second mortgage rate reached 0.63%.

"The prospect for further gains in economic activity and consumer confidence is good as shown by the continuing decline in consumer credit default rates," said David M. Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee for S&P Dow Jones Indices. "Consumer default rates have stabilized at levels similar to those seen before the financial crisis."

Blizter said a one-month uptick in consumer price inflation and the Federal Reserve’s winding down of its bond buying have not threatened consumer default rates or overall economic activity.

The auto loan rate of 0.92% is a record low compared to the previous low record of 0.99% set in March,
according to Experian. The first mortgage default rate declined for the seventh consecutive month. It was 1.01% in April, which is the lowest level since July 2006.

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