In the fourth quarter of 2008, the number of car loans that were 60 days or more past due increased 8.86 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2007, according to TransUnion. Auto loans 60 days or more past due increased from 0.80 percent in the third quarter of 2008 to 0.86 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.
TransUnion says its data is compiled quarterly from approximately 27 million anonymous, individual credit files.
Mississippi had the highest auto loan delinquency rate for the fourth quarter at 1.62 percent, followed by California at 1.46 percent. The lowest car loan delinquency rate was in Alaska at 0.19 percent, followed by North Dakota at 0.34 percent.
How does this data get interpreted in the big picture of our current economy? Compared to the mortgage sector, in the fourth quarter of 2008, the percentage of Americans who had a mortgage 60 days or more past due was 4.58 percent (a national average high), up 53 percent from the same quarter in 2007, when the rate was 2.99 percent,
according to a press release from TransUnion. Fourth quarter 2008 home loan delinquencies were up 16 percent from the third quarter 2008 delinquency rate of 3.96 percent.
So as 4.58 percent of Americans were 60 days or more past due on their mortgages in the fourth quarter of 2008, 0.86 percent of Americans were 60 days or more past due on their auto loans in the same time period.
