A new report from the New York Federal Reserve looks at trends involving household debt and borrowing.
The report, which looks at data as of the fourth quarter of last year, includes information about mortgages, home equity lines, student loans, credit cards and delinquency rates.
Claire Kramer Mills is an assistant vice president and community affairs officer with the New York Fed. She says overall, the report shows that levels of consumer stress in the region, which includes parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, are well below the national rate.
And among the metropolitan areas in New York State, Rochester fares well. Even though borrowing in the Rochester market is above state and national averages, the rates of seriously delinquent loans are below or very close to state and national averages.
Kramer Mills says that's the story with mortgages and student loans as well.
“We are, as is I think common, paying attention to student loan delinquencies, but again, that’s a rosy picture in Rochester, those numbers are certainly well below the nation.”
And she also tells WXXI News that one reason for the higher borrowing, in areas such as home equity lines of credit in the Rochester market, may be because homeowners in this region didn't experience the same downturn as other cities in the housing market several years ago.
“We looked at home value indices and the greater upstate region experienced less of a boom and also less of a bust than other areas of our district and of the nation.”
Kramer Mills says these occasional reports put out by her agency are a good indicator of the economic health of the area.
“We think that consumer distress levels do shed light on the broader economic vitality of areas within our district; and we think that this is really important information for the public, (and) also for policy makers.”
