A growing number of Americans are falling behind on payments for their automobile loans, says a new study by the Federal Reserve. These numbers haven’t been this high in eight years, the height of the economic collapse.
New data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York show that auto loans that were delinquent by a minimum of 30 days soared to $23.27 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016, up from $22.98 billion in the previous quarter. This is the highest it has been since the third quarter of 2008 when it was $23.46 billion.
Meanwhile, serious delinquent car loans – payments that are past due by 90 days or more – spiked to $8.24 billion in the October-December period. This is also the highest since the third quarter of 2008.
The central bank report discovered that total auto debt hit $1.16 trillion, with a $93 billion increase in 2016.
We are certainly coming to an end of the boom phase.
Just numbers on a page, if you ask me. Since the average cost of a new car is up $6,000 since 2008, this may be all that the numbers are really showing us. The boom in new car sells may just be starting with all the Hybrid, Plug-in Hybrid and Plug-in EVs due to hit the market by 2020.