Default rates for first and second mortgages and auto loans declined in April, from March, though bank card default rates rose for the third month in a row, according to the latest data from Standard & Poor's Ratings Services and Experian PLC.
The defaulting balances of bank card loans were 9.1% in April, up from 8.9% in March and 7.7% a year earlier. First and second mortgage default rates were 3.7% and 2.5%, respectively, both down from March. Auto loan defaults were 1.9%, dropping from 2.4%.
David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Indices, said consumer defaults on mortgages and auto loans bottomed out around the same time as the stock market in early 2009. Bank card defaults, on the other hand, continue to worsen and are at levels not seen in the history of S&P's indexes.
"With attention focused on consumer spending and little hope for a fast rebound in housing, the bank card series may raise concerns for many consumer-related businesses as well as for consumer-oriented lending institutions," Blitzer said.
Consumer credit defaults varied across major cities and regions in the U.S. Chicago showed the smallest decline during the past year among the five metropolitan areas included in the data each month.
