Both of this year's headline debt paydowns were illusions, and the one line that never stops is borrowing against the house.
- The $25 billion credit card drop in the first quarter was seasonal, per the New York Fed's own economist; balances rose back to $1.26 trillion, up $54 billion on the year.
- The $74 billion mortgage decline was a reporting gap between loan servicers; the Fed says balances would otherwise have stayed flat.
- Home equity lines of credit rose for the 17th consecutive quarter, to $459 billion, roughly 45 percent above their early-2022 low, and banks keep widening the limits.
- Delinquency is steady at 4.7 percent of all debt, but a home equity line is secured on a home price, and Austin's asking prices have fallen every July since 2022.
Total household debt: $18.8 trillion, up $4.6 trillion since the end of 2019.
