Debt Data Rings Alarms

Credit cards stand out as a particular problem.

1 MIN READ

Adobe Stock / Alexey Novikov

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The latest consumer debt data from the Federal Reserve is ringing alarm bells. By the end of 2024, total household debt surpassed $18.0 trillion, marking a 0.5% increase QOQ and a 3.0% increase YOY.

While the higher nominal debt levels tend to grab headlines, it is always important to contextualize the increase. For example, after adjusting for inflation using the CPI (1982-1984 base year), real household debt stood at $5.7 trillion, showing relative stability both QOQ (-0.04%) and YOY (+0.02%).

Among all the debt categories analyzed—mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, student loans, other loans, and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs)—credit cards stood out with some alarming trends.

  • Total credit card debt reached a record-high of $1.21 trillion. This was up 7.2% YOY and 30.6% from 2019. When we adjusted for inflation, total real credit card debt was $381.29 billion. This is a level we haven’t reached since Q2 2009 ($385.94 billion).

The full article is available to clients of Zonda’s National Outlook report. You can learn more and subscribe here: https://zondahome.com/products/data-intelligence/national-outlook/

About the Author

Ali Wolf

Ali Wolf is the Chief Economist for Zonda and NewHomeSource. Zonda is the largest new home construction data company in North America. As head of the Economics Department, Ali manages and analyzes the content, runs special research projects, strategizes with the nation’s largest homebuilders, and presents nationwide covering topics across the housing market and wider economy.

Ali is the creator of Zonda’s proprietary indices, including the New Home Pending Sales Index and the New Home Lot Supply Index. Ali has focused much of her career on understanding prior recessions and led the charge on ‘Millennials discussing Millennials’ in the homebuilding space. Highly regarded as an industry expert, Ali is quoted frequently in national publications including CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Yahoo! Finance, and has also appeared on national and international TV and radio programs such as Bloomberg TV and Marketplace. Further, Ali serves as an advisor to the White House, providing data and insights on the U.S. housing market.

Prior to joining the Zonda team, Ali worked for another consultancy firm and was a researcher for both the Canadian and UK Parliaments. Ali holds a Bachelor’s Degree from The Ohio State University in Economics and a Master’s Degree from the London School of Economics in Real Estate Economics and Finance.

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