Federal Reserve Bulletin

Profits and Balance Sheet Developments at U.S. Commercial Banks in 2005

Figure 25. Delinquency and charge-off rates for loans to households, by type of loan, 1990-2005. Data plotted as curves. Two panels. In the top panel, the delinquency rate on residential real estate loans starts in 1991 at about 3 percent, falls to about 2 percent by year-end 1994, holds at around that level through mid-2001, declines to about 1.5 percent by year-end 2004, and then rises to about 1.75 percent by the end of 2005. The delinquency rate on credit card loans starts in 1991 at about 5.2 percent, falls to reach about 3.2 percent around the end of 1994, rises to about 4.9 percent by early 1997 and stays at about that level through early 2002, when it begins falling, to reach about 3.5 percent by the end of 2005. The series on the delinquency rate on other consumer loans starts in 1991 at about 3.8 percent, falls to about 2.2 percent by mid-1994, rises to about 3 percent by early 1997 and holds at about that level through the end of 1998, then generally falls to reach about 2 percent at the end of 2005. In the bottom panel, the net charge-off rate on residential real estate loans starts in 1991 at just above zero percent and, except for slight upticks in late 2001 and late 2003, stays at that level through the end of 2005. The net charge-off rate on credit card loans begins in 1990 at about 3.1 percent, rises to reach about 5 percent in mid 1992, generally falls to reach about 3 percent by mid-1994, then holds there until about mid-1995, when it begins to rise to reach about 5.5 percent in late 1997, generally falls to about 4.1 percent in mid-2000, spikes to about 7.5 percent by early 2002, generally falls to reach about 4.1 percent in early 2005, then rises to about 5.8 percent by the end of 2005. The series on the net charge-off rate on other consumer loans begins in 1990 at about 1 percent, declines to reach about 0.5 percent by mid-1994, rises to about 1 percent by about mid-1997 and holds at about that level through mid-2000, then generally rises to about 1.5 percent by late 2001 and holds at about that level through early 2005, when it ticks up to 2 percent, and declines to about 1 percent by the end of 2005.

Note: The data are quarterly and seasonally adjusted; data for delinquencies and for net charge-offs of residential real estate loans begin in 1991. For definitions of delinquencies and net charge-offs, refer to the note for figure 24.  Return to article