HELOC Delinquency
Who is falling behind on home equity lines, and how much of their limits households are drawing. A HELOC is usually a second claim on a house, behind the first mortgage, so lenders recover less when one fails.
| Measure | Latest | 2019 | vs 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balance 90+ days late | 0.99% | 1.08% | At or below |
| Newly 90+ days late, annualized | 1.15% | 0.81% | Over 10% above |
| Newly 30+ days late, annualized | 2.22% | 2.00% | Over 10% above |
Counted: latest more than 10% over a positive 2019 average. Up to 10% above and at or below 2019 are shown, not counted; a series whose 2019 average is zero or negative has no base. Near record: at least 90% of the series high. Counted, never scored. Descriptions, not forecasts.
Latest reading
In Q2 2026, 0.99% of home equity line balances were 90 or more days late in credit files, against a 2019 average of 1.08% and a record of 4.93% in Q3 2012. Over the four quarters to Q2 2026, 1.15% of balances newly became seriously late, against 1.15% a year earlier. Balances stood at $0.46T, +11.6% on a year and +2.8% on the quarter.
Sources, methodology & freshnessNew York Fed Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit (Equifax credit files); Federal Reserve bank delinquency, charge-off, G.19 and SLOOS series via FRED · Quarterly; the Q2 2026 report was published 42 days after the quarter ended. Release dates before the latest report are estimated as quarter end + 40 days; the latest quarter uses the report monthData as of Q2 2026, released August 11, 2026 · Open ↓Close ↑
Late payments in credit files
Balances 90+ days late: 0.99% in Q2 2026, +0.14 pts on a year, the 39th percentile of 94 readings since 2003. Newly 30+ days late over the year: 2.22% in Q2 2026, −0.17 pts on a year, the 43rd percentile of 94 readings since 2003. The flow measures count balances that newly crossed 30 and 90 days late during the year, annualized.
How much is owed
Balance outstanding: $0.46T in Q2 2026, +11.6% on a year, the 48th percentile of 94 readings since 2003. Open accounts: 13.3M, +0.8% on a year. Utilization: 43.06% in Q2 2026, +2.00 pts on a year, the 31st percentile of 94 readings since 2003. Utilization is the balance divided by the total credit limit on open lines. The bank line is home equity lines held by commercial banks from the weekly H.8 release, shown at each month’s last reading.
How the numbers are built
Borrower side. The New York Fed's Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit reads a random five percent sample of Equifax credit files, so it covers every lender: banks, credit unions, finance companies and the federal government. Its delinquency shares are of balances, not of borrowers. Each reading covers a quarter and is plotted on the quarter's last day; the New York Fed publishes it weeks later (the Q2 2026 report on August 11, 2026), so the charts show when each period ended, not when it became known.
Lender side. Where the Federal Reserve publishes a bank series for this loan type, it is charted beside the credit files and never combined with them. Banks count loans 30+ days late on their own books, seasonally adjusted.
The answer card counts delinquency measures above their 2019 average and near their record by the rule printed under it, the same rule as the Delinquency Tracker. No forward study ships with this page: the series are quarterly and hold three recessions, too few to test one.
Download the series: home-equity.json.
| Measure | Latest | 2019 | vs 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balance 90+ days late | 0.99% | 1.08% | At or below |
| Newly 90+ days late, annualized | 1.15% | 0.81% | Over 10% above |
| Newly 30+ days late, annualized | 2.22% | 2.00% | Over 10% above |
Counted: latest more than 10% over a positive 2019 average. Up to 10% above and at or below 2019 are shown, not counted; a series whose 2019 average is zero or negative has no base. Near record: at least 90% of the series high. Counted, never scored. Descriptions, not forecasts.
How HELOC Delinquency Works
- 1Start with the answer cardEach row is one measure at its latest quarter, against its 2019 average and its own record, with the printed rule that marks it above 2019 or near its record. The rows are counted, never blended into a score.
- 2Read the borrower sideThe New York Fed reads a five percent sample of Equifax credit files every quarter, so it sees every lender. Its headline is the share of balances 90 or more days late, and its flow measures show how much newly fell behind during the year.
- 3Compare the lender sideWhere the Federal Reserve publishes bank figures, they sit beside the credit-file series rather than inside them: banks count loans 30 or more days late on their own books and lend mostly to prime borrowers.