Banks See Mixed HE Overdue Rates

The delinquency rate on home equity loans declined in the third quarter, while the overdue rate on home equity lines of credit increased slightly, according to the American Bankers Association.The ABA survey found that 1.79% of home equity loans at banks were delinquent in the third quarter of 2006, down 10 basis points from the level recorded in the second quarter. At the same time, the overdue rate on home equity lines of credit increased by 5 bps to 0.57% in the third quarter. HELOCs continued to have the lowest delinquency rate of any consumer credit category tracked in the ABA Consumer Credit Delinquency Bulletin. Overall, the ABA found that late payments for most types of consumer loans rose in the third quarter, with the credit card delinquency rate rising to 4.57% from 4.41% in the second quarter. The ABA can be found on the Web at http://www.aba.com.