There is good news about Americans and their debt in a quarterly report issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Consumer Credit Panel; keeping in mind, of course, that everything is relative. For example, aggregate consumer debt and household delinquency rates, while still in abysmal territory, both declined during the second quarter of 2010.

The report uses detailed Equifax credit report data to construct a longitudinal quarterly panel of individuals and households covering the period 1999 to 2009. The panel is a nationally representative 5 percent sample of individuals with social security numbers and an Equifax credit history. The survey includes all individuals sharing the panel members’ address, allowing the survey designers to construct household-level debt for a representative sample of US households. The database that results from the survey’s design includes approximately 40 million individuals each quarter. To reduce costs, a further 2 percent sample is taken for analysis resulting in a final sample of 240,000 individuals.

The study distinguishes debt across the following types of accounts: mortgage accounts (including home equity installment loans (HEL)), home equity revolving accounts (HELOCs), auto loans, credit cards, student loans, and other loan accounts including consumer finance, retail stores and gas station accounts.

As of June 30, American consumers owed $11.7 trillion, down 1.5 percent from the previous quarter and 6.5 percent below the peak level for consumer debt ($12.5 trillion) at the end of the third quarter of 2008. This downward trend has now continued for seven quarters.

Mortgage indebtedness has declined 6.4 percent since its peak, also in Q3 of 2008. HELOCs were down 4.4 percent since peaking in late 2008 and early 2009. Consumer indebtedness exclusive of mortgage and HELOC accounts was down 1.5 percent from the previous quarter and now totals $2.31 trillion, a decrease of 8.4 percent from the 2008Q3 peak.

Information Courtesy of – http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08182010_consumer_debt_federal_reserve.asp