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Credit union auto lending continued climbing out of the ditch in August, while first mortgages showed their first 12-month retreat in at least 20 years, according to data from America’s Credit Unions (AmCU).

The Monthly Credit Union Lending Estimates released last week showed credit unions' auto loan balances fell 0.5% in the 12 months ending Aug. 31. Although the auto portfolio marked the 16th consecutive month of being in negative territory, the gap has narrowed from late last year when the portfolio was down 2.5%.

On the other hand, the July-to-August gain in the auto portfolio was a mere 0.2%, compared with the average July-to-August gain of 0.9%.

The big surprise in August was first mortgages, which fell 0.3% from year ago — the first year-ago drop since start of the dataset in July 2005.

They fell 1% from July, compared with the average July-to-August gain of 0.8%.

AmCU’s monthly credit union lending estimates are pulled from Equifax data and do not include commercial loans, which now make up more than 10% of the movement’s portfolio. The values also differ from NCUA data because of different collection methods, but the monthly Equifax-based data provides glimpses of trends in the months between the NCUA’s quarterly reports.

First mortgages accounted for about 38% of the non-commercial loans and autos about 34%.

The total non-commercial loans in the data set rose 1.2% in the 12 months ending Aug. 31. They fell 0.4% from July, compared with the 10-year average July-to-August gain of 0.9%.

AmCU also estimated:

  • Secured personal loans were down 2.6% in August form a year earlier, the 14th month in a row of year-ago drops. They rose 0.1% from July, compared with the 10-year average gain of 1.3%. Secured personal loans were 4.2% of non-commercial loans.
  • Unsecured personal loans rose 2.8% from a year earlier and 1% from July, on par with the 10-year average gain. Unsecured personal loans were 4.7% of non-commercial loans.
  • Second mortgages rose 7.9% from a year earlier and rose 0.4% from July, lower than the 10-year average 0.7% gain. Second mortgages were 3.6% of non-commercial loans.
  • HELOCs rose 13.4% from a year earlier and fell 1.6% from July, better than the 10-year average gain of 1.1%. HELOCs were 8.1% of non-commercial loans.

For credit cards, the Federal Reserve’s G-19 Consumer Credit Report released Oct. 7 showed credit unions held $86.5 billion in credit card debt on Aug. 31, up 3.7% from a year earlier. The gain from July to August was 0.4%, down from an average July-to-August gain of 1% from 2015 through 2024.

Contact Jim DuPlessis at JDuPlessis@cutimes.com.

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