Credit Unions' Mortgages Rise, Auto Loans Fall

Whatever rally in credit union lending awaits in 2024 might be approaching in mortgages, but fell further away for automobiles, according to the latest monthly report from America’s Credit Unions.

Its Monthly Credit Union Estimates showed credit unions held $586.2 billion in first-lien mortgages Jan. 31, up 6.4% from a year earlier and up 0.2% from December, compared with an average drop of 0.5% for December-to-January from 2014 through 2023.

New car loans fell 0.3% to $176.3 billion from a year earlier and fell 1% from December, compared with an average January gain of 0.7%.

Used car loans grew 3% to $328.2 billion from a year earlier, and were essentially unchanged from December, compared with an average January gain of 0.7%.

Second-lien mortgages grew 24% to $137.2 billion from a year earlier, and rose 1.2% from December, compared with an average January gain of 0.5%. Home equity loans led loan growth during the month rising 5.3%.

Unsecured consumer term loans grew 9.3% to $71.4 billion from a year earlier and fell 1.5%.from December, compared with an average January gain of 0.2%.

The Federal Reserve’s G-19 Consumer Credit Report released Thursday showed credit unions held $82.1 billion in credit card debt, up 9.9% from a year earlier and down 0.71% from December, compared with a 10-year average drop of 1.1%.

Credit unions’ share was 6.3% in 2024-01, unchanged from a year earlier and December.

Banks held $1.2 trillion in credit card debt, up 9.1% from a year earlier. The change was -1.99% from December to January, compared with a 10-year average drop of 2.5%. Banks’ share was 90.5% in January, down from 90.6% in December but up from 90.3% in January 2023.

The trade group’s report showed total credit union loans were $1.63 trillion, up 6.1% from a year earlier and essentially unchanged from December, compared with an average gain of 0.4% for December-to-January from 2014 through 2023.

Savings were $1.91 trillion, up 2.2% from a year earlier and down 0.3% from December, compared with an average of essentially no change for January. One-year certificates led savings growth during the month rising to 3.5%.

The renewed lagging of savings growth caused the loans-to-savings ratio, which fell in December, to resume its climb. It was 85.6% as of Jan. 31, compared with 82.5% a year earlier and 85.4% in December.

The report covered 4,769 credit unions, down 181 from a year earlier and down 16 from December.

The report also showed:

• Members were 142.1 million, up 2.9% from a year earlier, and up 0.1% from December, compared with an average January gain of 0.3 percentage points.
• The 60-day-plus delinquency rate was 0.78% as of Jan. 31, compared with 0.67% a year earlier and unchanged from December.
• Borrowings and other liabilities were $174.5 billion, up 25% from a year earlier and up 2% from December.
• Assets were $2.29 trillion, up 4.1% from a year earlier, and fell 0% from December, compared with an average January gain of 0.3%.