- U.S. mortgage balances hit $9.406 trillion in the 2nd quarter 2019, surpassing the high of $9.294 trillion in the 3rd quarter of 2008.
- While household debt has grown, so have incomes.
- Household debt picture is much different today than 2008, since lending standards are tighter and less debt is delinquent. We don’t have more debt.
- Refinancing accounted for about half of new mortgages.
- Americans are keeping up with their payments. 95.6% of balances were current, the highest level of the current expansion.
Source: Harriet Torry, Wall Street Journal, August 13, 2019.