Consumer debt continues to fall as consumers continue to chip away at their “total debt,” which includes mortgages, home equity debts, and credit debt. Much of the decline can be attributed to mortgage debt write-offs as well as “consumer efforts to pay down mortgage obligations,” but for now those types of declining debt are balancing out rising non-mortgage debt levels. Overall consumer debt fell from $11.02 trillion in Q1 2013 to $10.92 trillion in Q2 2013 while total non-mortgage debt rose 7.1 percent to $2.5 trillion[1]. Trey Loughran, president of Equifax Personal Solutions, said of the declining debt levels that “it is encouraging to see credit demand and supply continuing to come into balance.” He added that “we are continuing to see changes in consumer behavior” as “people are paying down their debt faster and taking their access to credit more seriously”[2].
by Carole VanSickle
[1]http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news39618/Consumers-Continue-Pay-Down-Their-Total-Debt
[2] http://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/decline-in-consumer-debt-leveling-off-in-many-us-cities-reports-equifax-20130627-00472
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