Credit card delinquency rates rose from 7.6% to 7.7% in the first quarter ended March 31 while student loan rates increased from 11% to 11.5% and mortgage rates increased from 2.1% to 2.2%, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest Household Debt and Credit report.
Auto loan delinquency rates declined from 3.5% last year to 3.4% in the first quarter.
The Fed report also noted that delinquency rates for student loans are likely to understate effective delinquency rates because about half of these loans are currently in deferment, in grace periods or in forbearance and therefore temporarily not in the repayment cycle. "This implies that among loans in the repayment cycle, delinquency rates are roughly twice as high.”
Mortgage debt increased by $198 billion from the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016 and the total as of this quarter is $837 trillion. Student loan debt increased $72 billion from Q1 2015 to this year at a total of $126 trillion. Credit card debt increased $28 billion to a total of $712 billion and auto loan debt increased $103 billion to a total of $107 trillion as of the first quarter, according to the Fed.
The Household Debt and Credit Report offers an updated glimpse at household trends in borrowing and indebtedness, including data about mortgages, student loans, credit cards, auto loans and delinquencies.
"The report aims to help community groups, small businesses, state and local governments and the public to better understand, monitor and respond to trends in borrowing and indebtedness at the household level,” according to the Fed.
While debt has risen, consumers’ overall delinquency rates have reached a record low. Five percent of outstanding debt was in some stage of delinquency, the lowest amount since the second quarter of 2007, according to the Fed.
"Delinquency rates and the overall quality of outstanding debt continue to improve,” said Wilbert van der Klaauw, senior vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. "The proportion of overall debt that becomes newly delinquent has been on a steady downward trend and is at its lowest level since our series began in 1999. This improvement is in large part driven by mortgages.”
Quarterly delinquency rates, meaning payments 90 days or more past due, increased slightly from 3.6% in fourth quarter 2015 to 3.7% in the first quarter of this year.
