US Household Debt Surpasses $17 Trillion... Slowing Growth in Mortgage Loans

U.S. household debt has surpassed $17 trillion (approximately 23,000 trillion KRW). Although the growth of mortgage debt has slowed, overall debt among Americans is increasing amid the effects of inflation.

On the 15th (local time), the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released its household debt report for the first quarter of this year, stating that total U.S. household debt rose by 0.9% ($148 billion) from the previous quarter to $17.05 trillion.

This represents an increase of $2.9 trillion compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, marking an all-time high.

Among total household debt, mortgage debt stood at $12.04 trillion as of the end of March, increasing by $121 billion. Of this, new mortgage originations fell to $324 billion, down 35% from the previous quarter and 62% year-over-year, marking the lowest level in nine years since the second quarter of 2014. This decline is attributed to the rapid interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed), which have cooled the real estate market and reduced related lending.

According to the report, 14 million refinancing loans have been made since March 2020, with 64% aimed at switching to lower interest rates. However, despite mortgage rates reaching the mid-6% range, the report notes that foreclosure rates remain historically low.

Student loans totaled $1.6 trillion, increasing by $9 billion from the previous quarter, while auto loans reached $1.56 trillion, up $10 billion from the previous quarter. Credit card delinquency rates rose by 0.6 percentage points, and auto loan delinquency rates increased by 0.2 percentage points, returning to levels similar to those before COVID-19.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.