Housing Woes Push HELOC Delinquencies Higher

The percentage of bank home equity lines of credit that were more than 30-days past due rose 14 basis points to 1.10% during the first quarter, according to the American Bankers Association's quarterly delinquency bulletin. That was the highest HELOC delinquency rate since 1997, although HELOC delinquencies remained lower than all other consumer credit categories. For closed-end home equity loans, the delinquency rate actually fell five basis points from the fourth quarter of last year to 2.39% in the first quarter. In addition to housing weakness, overall economic problems also weighed on consumer credit performance in the first quarter, ABA chief economist James Chessen said. "Faced with rising food and gas prices and little income growth, fewer resources have been available to manage debt."