Despite a short period of decrease after the burst of the U.S. housing bubble and the global financial crisis, the total amount of mortgage debt in the United States has been on the rise in recent years. In 2024, the mortgage debt amounted to 20.83 trillion U.S. dollars, up from 13.5 trillion U.S. dollars a decade ago. Which factors impact the amount of mortgage debt? One of the most important factors responsible for the growth of mortgage debt is the number of home sales: The more home transactions, the more mortgages are sold, adding to the volume of debt outstanding. Additionally, as house prices increase, so does the gross lending and debt outstanding. On the other hand, high numbers of housing unit foreclosures and mortgage debt restructuring and short-sales can reduce mortgage debt. Which property type has the largest share of the mortgage market? The total mortgage debt includes different property types, such as one-to-four family residential, multifamily residential, commercial, and farm, but the overwhelming share of debt can be attributed to mortgage debt one-to-four family residences.

Debt Balance Mortgages in the United States increased to 12.80 Trillion USD in the first quarter of 2025 from 12.61 Trillion USD in the fourth quarter of 2024. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United States Debt Balance Mortgages.

Consumers in the United States had over **** trillion dollars in debt as of the first quarter of 2025. The majority of that debt were home mortgages, amounting to approximately **** trillion U.S. dollars. Student and car loans were the second and third largest component of household debt. Why is consumer debt important? Debt influences the Consumer Sentiment Index, which is an important indicator assessing the state of the U.S. economy. The U.S. housing market is also seen a bellwether of the economic conditions in the country. The housing industry employs a large number of people, and mortgages are large investments that consumers will pay off over the course of years, sometimes decades. Because of this, financial analysts closely watch consumer debt and its effects on the demand for housing. Attitudes towards debt Consumer perception of debt differed, depending on the kind of debt in question. While most saw a home mortgage as a positive investment, they increasingly looked at student loan debt as a negative debt. With education costs increasing, people are incurring more student loan debt in the United States. Credit card debt also had negative connotations.

The home mortgage debt of households and nonprofit organizations amounted to approximately 13.46 trillion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of 2025. Mortgage debt has been growing steadily since 2014, when it was less than ten billion U.S. dollars and has increased at a faster rate since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic due to the housing market boom. Home mortgage sector in the United States Home mortgage sector debt in the United States has been steadily growing in recent years and is beginning to come out of a period of great difficulty and problems presented to it by the economic crisis of 2008. For the previous generations in the United States, the real estate market was quite stable. Financial institutions were extending credit to millions of families and allowed them to achieve ownership of their own homes. The growth of the subprime mortgages and, which went some way to contributing to the record of the highest US homeownership rate since records began, meant that many families deemed to be not quite creditworthy were provided the opportunity to purchase homes. The rate of home mortgage sector debt rose in the United States as a direct result of the less stringent controls that resulted from the vetted and extended terms from which loans originated. There was a great deal more liquidity in the market, which allowed greater access to new mortgages. The practice of packaging mortgages into securities, and their subsequent sale into the secondary market as a way of shifting risk, was to be a major factor in the formation of the American housing bubble, one of the greatest contributing factors to the global financial meltdown of 2008.

Graph and download economic data for Mortgage Debt Service Payments as a Percent of Disposable Personal Income (MDSP) from Q1 1980 to Q1 2025 about disposable, payments, mortgage, debt, personal income, percent, personal, services, income, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Mortgage Debt Outstanding by Type of Holder: Major Financial Institutions: Depository Institutions (DISCONTINUED) (MDOTHMFIDI) from Q4 1949 to Q3 2019 about major, mortgage, financial, debt, depository institutions, and USA.

The home mortgage debt of households and nonprofit organizations amounted to approximately 13.3 trillion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of 2024. Mortgage debt has been growing steadily since 2014, when it was less than 10 billion U.S. dollars and has increased at a faster rate since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic due to the housing market boom. Home mortgage sector in the United States Home mortgage sector debt in the United States has been steadily growing in recent years and is beginning to come out of a period of great difficulty and problems presented to it by the economic crisis of 2008. For the previous generations in the United States, the real estate market was quite stable. Financial institutions were extending credit to millions of families and allowed them to achieve ownership of their own homes. The growth of the subprime mortgages and, which went some way to contributing to the record of the highest US homeownership rate since records began, meant that many families deemed to be not quite creditworthy were provided the opportunity to purchase homes. The rate of home mortgage sector debt rose in the United States as a direct result of the less stringent controls that resulted from the vetted and extended terms from which loans originated. There was a great deal more liquidity in the market, which allowed greater access to new mortgages. The practice of packaging mortgages into securities, and their subsequent sale into the secondary market as a way of shifting risk, was to be a major factor in the formation of the American housing bubble, one of the greatest contributing factors to the global financial meltdown of 2008.

United States Mortgage Debt: Major Financial Institutions data was reported at 5,391.001 USD bn in Jun 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 5,341.608 USD bn for Mar 2018. United States Mortgage Debt: Major Financial Institutions data is updated quarterly, averaging 1,248.206 USD bn from Dec 1949 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 269 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 5,391.001 USD bn in Jun 2018 and a record low of 42.597 USD bn in Dec 1949. United States Mortgage Debt: Major Financial Institutions data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Reserve Board. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.KB009: Mortgage Debt Outstanding.

Graph and download economic data for Mortgage Debt Held by Financial Institutions and Life Insurance Companies for United States (M1030CUSM027NNBR) from Jul 1965 to Dec 1968 about life, companies, insurance, mortgage, financial, debt, and USA.

United States Mortgage Debt: Farm: Individuals data was reported at 12.887 USD bn in Jun 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 13.084 USD bn for Mar 2018. United States Mortgage Debt: Farm: Individuals data is updated quarterly, averaging 14.712 USD bn from Dec 1949 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 269 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 64.611 USD bn in Mar 1982 and a record low of 2.355 USD bn in Dec 1949. United States Mortgage Debt: Farm: Individuals data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Reserve Board. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.KB009: Mortgage Debt Outstanding.

The Mortgage Debt Outstanding table is no longer being updated. All of the series that were published in this table can be found in the Financial Accounts of the United States.

United States Mortgage Debt: Federal: Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (FHLMC) data was reported at 1,853.733 USD bn in Mar 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 1,853.654 USD bn for Dec 2017. United States Mortgage Debt: Federal: Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (FHLMC) data is updated quarterly, averaging 6.856 USD bn from Mar 1949 (Median) to Mar 2018, with 277 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,953.048 USD bn in Mar 2010 and a record low of 0.000 USD mn in Jun 1970. United States Mortgage Debt: Federal: Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (FHLMC) data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Reserve Board. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.KA017: Mortgage Debt Outstanding.

United States Mortgage Debt: Federal: Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) data was reported at 3,176.703 USD bn in Mar 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 3,155.703 USD bn for Dec 2017. United States Mortgage Debt: Federal: Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) data is updated quarterly, averaging 75.174 USD bn from Mar 1949 (Median) to Mar 2018, with 277 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3,176.703 USD bn in Mar 2018 and a record low of 0.000 USD mn in Sep 1968. United States Mortgage Debt: Federal: Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Reserve Board. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.KA017: Mortgage Debt Outstanding.

United States Mortgage Debt: 1 to 4 Family Residences data was reported at 10,718.605 USD bn in Jun 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 10,648.435 USD bn for Mar 2018. United States Mortgage Debt: 1 to 4 Family Residences data is updated quarterly, averaging 1,350.738 USD bn from Dec 1949 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 269 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 11,348.387 USD bn in Mar 2008 and a record low of 29.152 USD bn in Dec 1949. United States Mortgage Debt: 1 to 4 Family Residences data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Reserve Board. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.KB009: Mortgage Debt Outstanding.

United States Mortgage Debt: Multifamily Res: Federal & Rel Agencies: GNMA data was reported at 0.000 USD mn in Mar 2018. This stayed constant from the previous number of 0.000 USD mn for Dec 2017. United States Mortgage Debt: Multifamily Res: Federal & Rel Agencies: GNMA data is updated quarterly, averaging 0.000 USD mn from Mar 1949 (Median) to Mar 2018, with 277 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4.274 USD bn in Jun 1981 and a record low of 0.000 USD mn in Mar 2018. United States Mortgage Debt: Multifamily Res: Federal & Rel Agencies: GNMA data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Reserve Board. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.KA017: Mortgage Debt Outstanding.

United States Mortgage Debt: Federal: Farmers Home Administration (FMHA) data was reported at 103.864 USD bn in Jun 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 102.903 USD bn for Mar 2018. United States Mortgage Debt: Federal: Farmers Home Administration (FMHA) data is updated quarterly, averaging 40.739 USD bn from Mar 1949 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 278 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 103.864 USD bn in Jun 2018 and a record low of 193.000 USD mn in Mar 1949. United States Mortgage Debt: Federal: Farmers Home Administration (FMHA) data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Reserve Board. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.KB009: Mortgage Debt Outstanding.

As of the final quarter of 2023, one-to-four-family residential mortgages comprised the largest share of mortgage debt outstanding in the United States. The sector accounted for 14 billion U.S. dollars, or roughly 70 percent of the total mortgage debt outstanding.

Graph and download economic data for Mortgage Debt Outstanding by Type of Holder and Property: Individuals and Other Holders for One- to Four Family Residences (DISCONTINUED) (MDOTHIOHTP1T4FR) from Q4 1949 to Q3 2019 about mortgage, debt, residents, and USA.

The value of mortgage debt outstanding held by depositary institutions in the United States has increased year-on-year since 2013. From 4.05 trillion U.S. dollars in 2013, the value increased to 5.9 trillion U.S. dollars in 2023.

United States - Mortgage Debt Service Payments as a Percent of Disposable Personal Income was 5.84% in January of 2025, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Mortgage Debt Service Payments as a Percent of Disposable Personal Income reached a record high of 8.95 in October of 2007 and a record low of 4.37 in January of 1980. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Mortgage Debt Service Payments as a Percent of Disposable Personal Income - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on August of 2025.