Much has been made of U.S. households deleveraging since the 2008-09 financial crisis, but that trend may have come to an end.
Americans racked up $28.2 billion of credit card debt in the second quarter, after paying down $32.5 billion in the first quarter, according to
CardHub, a credit-card website.
The second-quarter figure represents the largest debt buildup in the last six years, almost tripling the total of five years earlier.
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The average household had a credit card balance of $6,802 in the second quarter, up from $6,628 in the first quarter. CardHub analysts expect that balance to total well over $7,000 by year-end.
To be sure, the quarterly credit card default rate registered 3.45 percent in the latest period, an increase from the 3.32 percent recorded in the first quarter of 2014, "indicating a small rebound from historical lows seen during the past three quarters," the report noted.
"A continuance of this rebound in subsequent quarters could signal that credit card debt levels are increasingly unsustainable," according to the CardHub report.
Overall consumer debt declined 0.2 percent, or $18 billion, to $11.63 trillion last quarter, the first dip in a year, as mortgage originations slid to the lowest level since 2000, according to the
New York Federal Reserve Bank. Auto and education borrowings rose.
"A slight decline in real-estate related balances, consistent with broader housing market developments, contributed to a flat quarter for total outstanding household debt," New York Fed economist Donghoon Lee said in a statement.
"Meanwhile, we observe continued strength in the auto loan market."
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