NEW YORK CITY–For the 22nd consecutive quarter, total household debt has hit a new high.
According to The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Quarterly Report, total household debt increased by $193 billion, or 1.4%, to reach $14.15 trillion in Q4 2019. That figure makes total household debt $1.5 trillion higher than the pre-recession peak of $12.68 trillion, set Q3 2018.
The biggest piece of household debt, mortgages, increased by $120 billion in Q4, according to the Fed data. While skyrocketing mortgages were a big contributor to the housing crash of more than a decade ago, the Federal Reserve said loan quality remains strong.
Meanwhile, HELOCs saw a decrease of $6 billion, reducing outstanding balance to $390 billion and continuing the 10-year downward trend, the Fed said.
Other Data
Other numbers released by the Fed:
- Auto loans increased by $16 billion and outstanding student loans were at $1.51 trillion, which is an increase of $10 billion from the prior quarter
- Credit cards also saw a significant increase of $96 billion.
- Despite the increase in household debt, aggregate delinquency rates have remained mostly flat at year-end at 4.7%