American Household Debt Rises To All-Time High Of 15T In Third Quarter

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Tuesday that total household debt rose by $286 billion in the third quarter of 2021, bringing the total number to a record high of $15.24 trillion. That is up 1.9% from the second quarter, 6.2% from a year ago, and $1.1 trillion from 2019.

Housing debt sits close to $11 trillion while non-housing debt accounts for the other $4.25 trillion, growing by $61 billion.

Consumers are also going back to pre-pandemic spending as Covid stimulus programs end.

“As pandemic relief efforts wind down, we are beginning to see the reversal of some of the credit card balance trends seen during the pandemic,” said Donghoon Lee, research officer at the New York Fed, in a statement. “. . . credit card usage and balances are resuming their pre-pandemic trends, although from lower levels.”

The blame also falls on rising prices, including increased wages for workers, supply chain disruptions, pandemic-related economic troubles and inflation.

The rising prices boosted mortgage balances by $230 billion and auto loan balances increased by $28 billion. Student loan debt rose $14 billion from the second quarter along with credit card balances which rose by $17 billion but are $123 billion lower than at the end of 2019, according to the New York Fed Bank report.