Total household debt hit new highs in the second quarter of the year and has now increased for 16 consecutive quarters.

U.S. household debt increased by $82 billion in the second quarter, reaching a total of $13.29 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Total household debt is now $618 billion higher than the previous peak of $12.68 trillion from the third quarter of 2008. Furthermore, overall household debt is now 19.2 percent above the post-financial-crisis trough reached during the second quarter of 2013.

The report is based on data from the New York Fed’s Consumer Credit Panel, a nationally representative sample of individual and household-level debt and credit records drawn from anonymized Equifax credit data.

“While overall delinquency rates have remained stable at relatively low levels, transition rates into delinquency have fallen noticeably for student debt over the past year, reflecting an improved labor market and increased participation in various income-driven repayment plans,” Wilbert van der Klaauw, senior vice president at the New York Fed, said in a statement.

The largest component of household debt, mortgage balances rose by $60 billion during the second quarter, to $9 trillion. Balances on home equity lines of credit continued their downward trend, declining by $4 billion, to $432 billion overall. The median credit score of newly originating mortgage borrowers was roughly unchanged at 760.

Housing Debt

• Mortgage originations edged up to $437 billion in the second quarter, from $428 billion in the first quarter.
• Mortgage delinquencies continued to improve, with 1.1 percent of mortgage balances 90 or more days delinquent in the second quarter, versus 1.2 percent in the first quarter.

Non-Housing Debt

• Outstanding student loan debt was mostly unchanged in the second quarter and stood at $1.41 trillion as of June 30.
• Auto loan balances continued their six-year upward trend, increasing by $9 billion in the quarter, to $1.24 trillion.
• Credit card balances rose by $14 billion, or 1.7 percent, after a seasonal decline in the first quarter.

Delinquencies, Collection Accounts, and Credit Inquiries

• Credit card delinquency rates eased slightly, with 7.9 percent of balances 90 or more days delinquent as of June 30, versus 8 percent at March 31.
• The share of consumers with an account in collections fell 23.4 percent between the third quarter of 2017 and the second quarter of 2018, from 12.3 percent to 9.4 percent, due to changes in reporting requirements of collections agencies. This decline and its implications for affected borrowers is the focus of a Liberty Street Economics blog post released today.
• The number of credit inquiries within the past six months – an indicator of consumer credit demand – was roughly unchanged, and remains among the lowest levels seen in the history of the data.