This is what nearly $14 trillion of household debt looks like
Mortgages account for the majority of all personal debt in America. Image: REUTERS/Mike Blake
- In the third quarter of 2019, total household debt rose to $13.95 trillion in the United States
- That's more than $1 trillion higher than Q3 of 2008 - in the great recession
- Mortgages account for the majority of this debt - at $9.44 trillion
Total household debt in the United States, including mortgages, auto loans, credit card and student debt, climbed to $13.95 trillion in the third quarter of 2019, eclipsing the debt level at the height of the great recession in Q3 2008 by $1.28 trillion in nominal terms.
That’s according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest Report on Household Debt and Credit, which also shows that the delinquency rate, in this case the percentage of the total household debt balance that is at least 30 days past due, is significantly lower than it was back then (4.8 percent vs. a peak of 11.9 percent at the end of 2009), indicating that today’s debt burden isn’t as worrisome.
Standing at $9.44 trillion, mortgages still account for the lion’s share of the total debt balance, with student loans a distant second at $1.50 trillion. While credit card debt “only” amounts to $0.88 trillion, 8.3 percent of total credit card debt is 90+ days delinquent, trailing only student loans (10.9 percent) in that unfavorable category.
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