Household Debt and Mortgages Rise in Report Roundup
- Roy Urrico
- Aug 8
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 19
By Roy Urrico
Household debt and home buying trends are the focus of three recently released reports.
Household Debt Reaches $18.39 Trillion in the Second Quarter
Total U.S. household debt increased by $185 billion to hit $18.39 trillion in the second quarter, according to the latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Other Fed of N.Y. Findings:
Mortgage balances grew by $131 billion and totaled $12.94 trillion at the end of June.
Auto loan balances also increased, rising by $13 billion to reach $1.66 trillion.
The pace of mortgage originations increased slightly, with $458 billion in newly originated mortgages in the second quarter.
Home equity line of credit (HELOC) balances rose by $9 billion to $411 billion, representing the 13th consecutive quarterly increase.
Student loan balances edged up by $7 billion and stood at $1.64 trillion, with student loans seeing another uptick in the rate at which balances moved from current to delinquent due to the resumption of reporting of delinquent student loans.
Aggregate delinquency rates remained elevated in the second quarter, with 4.4% of outstanding debt in some stage of delinquency.
Survey on Household Debt
The Miami-based personal-finance company WalletHub’s 2025 Household Debt Survey, based on the results of 200 online respondents, found “Many Americans are literally sick and tired of dealing with debt, as the prolonged stress and anxiety that comes with owing a lot of money can take a toll on people both physically and emotionally.”
For example, 44% of people expect their household debt to increase in the next 12 months; more than half of Americans say their household is struggling with debt; and more than 2 in 3 people feel the economy is not doing as well as they thought it would be.
“Household debt can be a helpful tool for managing major expenses, like buying a home or paying school tuition, but it can also become a significant burden if left unchecked. For many Americans, managing debt effectively and minimizing its impact on their health, family, and long-term financial goals is increasingly critical,” John Kiernan, managing editor of WalletHub, said.
Other Key Findings:
Credit cards (48%), mortgages (18%), personal loans (12%) and student loans (10%) are the types of debt household struggle with the most.
Fifty-seven percent of respondents do not consider their household finances recession-proof.
Nearly 2 in 5 people say debt is a source of conflict in their household.
Forty four percent think the preferential treatment given to student loan borrowers over the past 5 years was not fair.
Fifty-five percent of Americans think they will still have debt when they die.
Homebuyer Intelligence Report Shows Increased Loan Quantities
Buffalo, N.Y.-based LenderLogix, a provider of mortgage point-of-sale and automation software for credit unions, banks, and brokers, release its second quarter of 2025 Homebuyer Intelligence Report, a quarterly summary of insights into borrower behavior during the home-buying process based on data collected by the LenderLogix suite of tools.
“Despite the increase in sales price, we’ve seen increased prequalification numbers for conventional, FHA VA and USDA loans, demonstrating borrowers’ desire to purchase,” said LenderLogix Co-Founder and CEO Patrick O’Brien. “Lenders and real estate partners need to be vigilant to help borrowers find homes that fit their prequalification amounts.”
The LenderLogix study reveals that despite higher sales prices in the second quarter of 2025, borrower activity held steady. Pre-approvals climbed almost 12% and average loan amounts increased to $367,305. The data, based on real borrower behavior in LenderLogix’s QuickQual and LiteSpeed platforms, also revealed modest gains in borrower conversion rates and improved verification of income and employment.
Other significant findings:
The average number of pre-approved borrowers per loan officer increased from 26.5 in the first quarter of 2025 to 28.6 in the second quarter.
The average sales price also increased from $381,820 to $423,667. The average down payment size shows a slight decrease from 14.4% in the first quarter to 13.3% in the second quarter.
Conventional loans remained the most popular loan type for pre-approved borrowers in the second quarter, increasing marginally from 74.2% to 74.7% over the prior quarter. Federal Housing Administration (FHA) pre-approvals decreased marginally from 19% to 18.6%. Veterans Administration (VA, 4.5%) and Department of Agriculture (USDA, 1%) maintained their share from quarter to quarter in 2025.
Of the borrowers using QuickQual in Q1 2025, the average number of days between pre-approval and loan submission increased from 79.6 in the first quarter to 86.3 days in the second quarter. The conversion rate among borrowers from pre-approval to loan application increased slightly from 55% to 56% in Q2. Borrowers maintained an average of eight pre-approval letters before converting.
New applications through the LiteSpeed point-of-sale (POS) platform increased 8.7% from the first quarter of 2025 to the second quarter of 2025.
