PLANO, Texas—Americans now owe more on their homes, cars, credit cards, and student loans than ever before, with total household debt hitting a record $18.39 trillion in the second quarter of 2025—a surge driven largely by bigger mortgages and a steady climb in non-housing debt, reports Brian Turner.
The largest contributor to the rising debt total was mortgage balances, which increased by $131 billion, bringing the total to $12.94 trillion, said Turner, president and chief economist at Meridian Economics. This growth accompanied a moderate uptick in mortgage originations, which reached $458 billion in Q2, up slightly from the previous quarter.
“While home sales have slowed in recent months, the homes that sold were more expensive, leading to larger mortgages. Home Equity Lines of Credit also saw a rise of $9 billion, marking their thirteenth consecutive quarterly increase and bringing the total to $411 billion,” Turner said.
Beyond housing, credit card balances grew by $27 billion, climbing to $1.21 trillion. Auto loans saw a similar trajectory, increasing by $13 billion to $1.66 trillion, while student loan balances edged up by $7 billion, totaling $1.64 trillion.
Non-housing debt overall rose by $45 billion, a 0.9% increase from the previous quarter. The availability of credit continued to expand, with credit card limits rising by $78 billion, or 1.5%, in the second quarter.
“Focusing on serious delinquency rates (90+ days past due), risk exposure climbed overall from 1.59% in the second quarter of 2024 to 2.91% in the second quarter of 2025,” Turner explained.
However, the picture varied across different debt types:
- Student loan delinquencies surged dramatically, with 12.88% of balances moving into serious delinquency, up from just 0.80% a year ago. “This spike reflects the resumption of reporting previously unreported missed payments from Q2 2020 to Q4 2024,” Turner said.
- Mortgage delinquencies increased modestly to 1.29%, while HELOCs rose to 1.15%.
- Credit card and auto loan delinquencies remained largely steady at 6.93% and 2.93%, respectively.
“The second quarter’s flow of household debt into serious delinquency was mixed across debt types, with credit card and auto loans holding steady, student loans continuing to rise, and mortgages edging up slightly. Despite the recent uptick in mortgage delinquency, overall mortgage performance remains strong by historical standards,” concluded Turner.