Americans are carrying a record amount of household debt
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Americans racked up more debt at the beginning of 2024 – and a growing number of households fell behind on payments for several types of loans, according to a New York Federal Reserve report published Tuesday.
In the first three months of 2024, total household debt surged to a fresh record of $17.69 trillion, an increase of $184 billion, or 1.1% from the previous quarter. The increase mostly stemmed from a jump in mortgage balances, which rose $190 billion from the previous quarter to $12.44 trillion at the end of March.
Auto loan balances rose slightly by $9 billion, continuing the upward climb seen since 2020, and now stand at $1.62 trillion. But credit card balances fell by $14 billion to $1.12 trillion – near a record high – as consumers worked to pay down their debt following the holiday shopping season.
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A new Biden administration rule has created an $8 ceiling for credit card late fees. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The report also showed a notable increase in the number of borrowers who are struggling with credit card, student and auto loan payments.
As of March, about 3.2% of outstanding debt was in some stage of delinquency, up from the 3.1% recorded the previous quarter but still down from the average 4.7% rate seen before the COVID-19 pandemic began. The transitions into delinquency, particularly serious delinquency in which a balance is more than 90 days overdue, rose across all debt types.
«In the first quarter of 2024, credit card and auto loan transition rates into serious delinquency continued to
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