Eye On Housing
During the fourth quarter of 2012, household balance sheets improved with increases in home values and reductions in mortgage debt, thereby boosting household net worth. These are favorable improvements that will help housing demand in 2013. However, since the end of the Great Recession such developments have typically been associated with a decline in the personal savings rate. Due to the Fiscal Cliff, the data… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘household balance sheets’
Consumer Credit Expands, but HELOCs Continue Their Decline
Household debt outstanding rose for the first time in two years. According to data released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, household debt grew by $31.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012. The quarter-on-quarter not seasonally adjusted growth in household debt reflected an expansion in outstanding mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, and student loans. In the fourth… Read More ›
Refinancings Contribute to A Lower Average Mortgage Debt Burden
Mortgage applications eased for the second consecutive week. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, was 1.7% lower on a seasonally adjusted basis in the week ending Feb. 15. In the week ending February 8, the market index fell by 6.4%. The most recent decline in weekly seasonally adjusted mortgage… Read More ›
Securitizations of Household Debt Accounted For Bond Market Growth
U.S. bonds outstanding have grown from $2.5 trillion in 1980 to $36.9 trillion in 2011. Over this period mortgage-related and asset-backed securities accounted for much of this increase. According to Chart 1, the amount of mortgage-related and asset-backed securities outstanding grew from $0.1 trillion in 1980 to $10.2 trillion by 2011. The growth in mortgage-related and asset-backed securities exceeded the… Read More ›
Quality of Residential Mortgages Expected to Improve in 2013
In its January release, which generally covers the fourth quarter of 2012, the Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey documented answers by senior bank officers on their outlook for loan quality in 2013. On net, which is the difference between the percent of respondents expecting an improvement in loan quality and the share of respondents expecting weaker loan quality, senior bank… Read More ›
Revolving Credit Growth Moderate, but Underlying Dynamics Showing Signs of Recovery
According to the Federal Reserve Board, consumer credit outstanding, which is composed of credit not secured by real estate, expanded at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 7.0% to $2.8 trillion in November. This is the fourth consecutive monthly increase in consumer credit outstanding and the second consecutive month that the monthly increase has risen. Following a 0.8% decline in… Read More ›
Consumer Prices Decline On Falling Energy Costs; Gas Prices Fall but Household Energy Increases
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has reported that its Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers, CPI-U, declined on a monthly seasonally adjusted basis of 0.3% in the month of November. This is the first decline for the headline index since May 2012. The decline in the CPI-U largely reflects a steep fall in energy prices, which fell by 4.1%… Read More ›
Household Balance Sheets Continue Improvement in 3rd Quarter
During the third quarter, household balance sheets moved forward with increases in household net worth, declines in debt, and a small drop in the personal savings rate. These are favorable improvements that will help housing demand in 2013. To evaluate the status of household balance sheets, NAHB has been tracking two key economic variables that are critical for a robust and… Read More ›
National Data Suggest Household Deleveraging Of Credit Card Debt
The Federal Reserve Board recently reported that consumer credit outstanding rose in October on a monthly seasonally adjusted basis. An analysis of the release by NAHB illustrated that the expansion in consumer credit outstanding in 2011 and 2012 reflected growth in auto and student loans while credit card debt fell. This decline in credit card debt outstanding had begun prior… Read More ›
Despite the Recent Increase, Credit Card Debt Outstanding Remains On A Downward Path
According to the Federal Reserve Board, consumer credit outstanding increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.2% in October, an acceleration of 0.8 percentage points over September’s growth rate. Unlike September, the October increase in consumer credit outstanding, which excludes loans secured by real estate, reflects growth in both revolving and non-revolving credit. In October, revolving credit expanded by… Read More ›