Performance improved during the final three months of last year on bank-owned home lending products, though mobile home loans didn’t fare so well.
The 30-day composite rate of delinquency on eight categories of consumer loans at banks was 1.59 percent as of Dec. 31, 2013, down 4 basis points from the third quarter..
Consumer categories include home-equity products, property improvement loans and personal loans as well as bank cards and auto loans. Also considered are mobile home loans, RV loans and marine loans.
The composite delinquency ratio was 1.99 percent as of Dec. 31, 2012.
The consumer loan performance data was reported Wednesday by the American Bankers Association.
The trade group noted that the composite rate was “a record low that’s well under the 15-year average of 2.34 percent.”
ABA Chief Economist James Chessen was careful to temper the positive results with a cautious outlook. While he is optimistic about the future, he cautioned that lingering headwinds could cause historically low delinquency rates to fluctuate in the months ahead.
On home-equity loans, the 30-day rate was 3.48 percent in the fourth quarter, down from 3.58 percent in the third quarter and 4.03 percent in the final quarter of 2012.
Home-equity lines of credit had a delinquency rate of 1.67 percent as of the end of last year. The HELOC rate retreated from 1.71 percent as of Sept. 30, 2013, and 1.85 percent as of Dec. 31, 2012.
The 30-day rate on property improvement loans fell to 1.07 percent in the most recent report from 1.25 percent three months earlier and 0.83 percent 12 months earlier.
It was the only quarter in 2013 that delinquency was lower on HELs, HELOCs and property improvement loans.
“This across-the–board decline in home-related delinquencies reflects a steadily improving housing market,” Chessen said. “Rising home values are turning the economics back in favor of homeowners. This trend should continue through 2014 and help push delinquencies even lower.”
An increase of 11 basis points was reported for the 30-day rate on mobile home loans, which closed out last year at 3.75 percent. That was also worse than 3.53 percent at the end of 2012.
