Coloradans are borrowing more than their national and regional counterparts — but they’re doing a good job with staying current on payments.
That’s the conclusion of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Colorado residents have average consumer debt, not including first mortgages, of $18,816 — higher than the national average of $17,205 and significantly greater than the Fed’s seven-state Western region at $16,105.
Chalk it up to a higher volume of student loans and auto loans, according to Kelly Edmiston, senior economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
“Higher incomes and cost of living explain much of the higher consumer debt in Colorado,” Edmiston said. ” following the recession has led to a rise in auto debt.”
Despite a hefty appetite for incurring consumer loans, Coloradans are doing a far better job in fending off debt collectors.
Delinquency rates for auto loans in Colorado are 5.8 percent; the national average is 8.5 percent. Holders of student loans in Colorado are, on average, 12.3 percent delinquent, compared with 15 percent nationally. For bank card loans, 3.7 percent are past due in Colorado, compared with the national average of 5 percent.
Rising real estate values have helped Coloradans reverse their once-substandard performance on making mortgage-loan payments.
“The past-due mortgage rate, which was relatively high in Colorado during the housing crisis, now is significantly below the U.S. rate,” Edmiston said.
During the third quarter of 2014, 4.2 percent of Colorado mortgage holders were past due on payments and 1.8 percent were considered “seriously delinquent,” defined as 90 days or more past due.
That’s a markedly better performance than the U.S. as a whole, with 7.9 percent of mortgage loans past due and 4.1 percent seriously delinquent.
However, Pueblo had mortgage delinquency rates higher than other cities in the consumer credit report, including Denver, Colorado Springs and Fort Collins.
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948, sraabe@denverpost.com or twitter.com/steveraabedp
