Debts increase as consumers fall further behind

The numbers continue to be troubling. Reports released by credit reporting agency TransUnion for the third quarter suggest the personal financial situation for many consumers is deteriorating as they fall further behind on credit cards, auto loans, and mortgage payments:

CREDIT CARDS

_Average bank card debt increased to $5,710, a 1.57 percent increase from the previous quarter's $5,621. The average remains 6 percent higher than the same period a year ago, when it was $5,387.

_The ratio of credit card borrowers delinquent on one or more of their credit cards increased to 1.09 percent in the third quarter, up 4.8 percent over the previous quarter. On a year-over-year basis, the national rate has risen 5.8 percent from 1.03 percent in the third quarter of 2007.

AUTO LOANS

_The national 60-day auto delinquency rate — the ratio of auto loan borrowers 60 or more days past due — increased between the second and third quarter from 0.68 percent to 0.80 percent. The delinquency rate increased 15.9 percent compared with the third quarter a year ago.

_Average auto debt nationally decreased slightly in the third quarter from $12,869 to $12,861. Year-over-year auto debt increased 1.1 percent.

HOME MORTGAGES

_Mortgage loan delinquency — the ratio of borrowers 60 or more days past due — increased for the seventh straight quarter, hitting a national average high of 3.96 percent for the first nine months of 2008 — 54 percent higher than the same period last year.

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_Average national mortgage debt per mortgage borrower rose slightly — 0.2 percent — to $192,287 from the previous quarter's $191,681. Average national mortgage debt dropped 3.45 percent year over year, compared to $199,168 in the third quarter of 2007.

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Source: The reports are compiled from TransUnion's database of 27 million anonymous consumer records randomly sampled every quarter from the company's national consumer credit database.

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On the Net: TransUnion: http://newsroom.transunion.com/index.php?s43&item505