High mortgage delinquency rates and high mortgages in the New York region’s metro areas continued to bog down the New York Federal Reserve Bank [1] (NYFED) in the second quarter. Coupled with other household and credit card debts, the overall picture for NYFED’s region is one of consumers having more trouble managing their debts.
NYFED’s Regional Household Debt and Credit Snapshots [2] report ,which examined borrowing and indebtedness trends throughout the New Jersey/New York/Connecticut region, showed consumer distress rates between 14 and 15 percent. These are below the national rate of 19.6 percent, but the good news was offset by state-level mortgage delinquency rates that were above the national average. The national delinquency rate of mortgage borrowers is 2.3 percent, compared to 3.8 percent in New York, 4.6 percent in New Jersey and 3 percent in Connecticut. NYFED stated that the higher rates in its region are due to extended mortgage foreclosure timelines.
Average mortgage balances in upstate New York were significantly lower than the state and national averages, at $221,000 and $187,900, respectively. In contrast, the average balance in more southern New York areas was near or above the state average. Although mortgage borrowing rates in northern New Jersey and the nation are similar—26.1 percent and 26 percent, respectively—mortgage balances in New Jersey are significantly higher ($274,600 compared to $187,900).
Staten Island had the highest rates of mortgage borrowers in New York City. Nearly 28 percent of Staten Island residents have a mortgage, compared to 14.1 percent overall for New York City.
Long Island had wildly disparate numbers. The overall consumer distress rate for Long Island was 11.6 percent, which is significantly lower than both the national and New York state rates of 19.6 and 14.3 percent respectively. At the same time, mortgage delinquency rates on Long Island were 4.9 percent, which is more than double the national rate and almost a full percent higher than the New York state rate.
“Both the Long Island and New York State rates declined from the previous Snapshots series,” NYFED reported.
Although the rates of mortgage borrowers in New Jersey and Connecticut were close to national numbers, borrower balances in each were significantly higher. The average mortgage borrower balance nationally was $187,900. The average balance for northeastern New Jersey was $274, while the average balance for western Connecticut was $364,200.