Household debt topped $17 trillion in Q1

Household debt increased by $148 billion or nearly 1 percent in the first quarter of the year to $17.05 trillion, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of New York report on household debt and credit. .Credit card balances were flat in the first quarter at $986 billion, "bucking the typical trend of balance declines in first quarters," according to the Fed. Aggregate credit card limits increased $119 billion or 2.7 percent from the fourth quarter. .Mortgage balances increased by $121 billion during the first quarter to $12.04 trillion, while originations as new mortgages on consumer credit reports fell to $324 billion, the lowest since 2014. Balances on home equity lines of credit increased by $3 billion to $339 billion, the fourth consecutive quarter of increases following a nearly 13-year run of declines. Debt balances have increased nearly $3 trillion since the end of 2019..Aggregate delinquency rates were flat in the first quarter and remained low, after falling significantly through the start of the pandemic. As of March. 2.6 percent of outstanding debt was in delinquency, 2.1 percentage points lower than immediately before the pandemic. However, the debt market showed signs of worsening as delinquency rates increased for credit cards, auto loans and mortgages. Roughly 102,000 consumers had a bankruptcy notation added to their credit reports during the first quarter, the first time it has eclipsed 100,000 since the second quarter of 2021. "The share of debt newly transitioning into delinquency increased for most debt types," the report stated. .The uptick in delinquencies came as the financial well-being of Americans worsened over the previous year, according to the Federal Reserve's 2022 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking. The survey, taken last October, revealed that self-reported financial well-being had fallen to its lowest mark since 2016. The share of adults reporting having spent less than their income in the month before the survey fell, while the share of those whose credit card debt increased rose. ."Among adults who were not retired, the survey also showed a decline in the share who felt that their retirement savings plan was on track, suggesting that individuals had concerns about their future financial security," the annual survey stated. "The declines in financial well-being across those measures provide an indication of how families were affected by broader economic conditions in 2022, such as inflation and stock market declines." .Other household debt report findings included:.Auto loan balances increased by $10 billion, continuing the consistent rises in balances since 2011. The volume of newly originated auto loans was $162 billion, a drop from the pandemic but still higher than pre-pandemic volumes. The balances of retail cards and other consumer loans increased by $5 billion. Non-housing balances increased by $24 billion. Student loan balances remained essentially flat as the federal government continued to pause repayments. Outstanding student loan debt was measured at $1.6 trillion in the first quarter.