Average Credit Card Debt Down to 8-Year Low: Below $5,000

Credit card delinquencies – payments overdue at least 90 days – fell again in the second quarter of 2010 – and the average individual card debt fell below $5,000 for the first time since 2002.

U.S. Bankruptcies Jump to Highest Level Since 2005

Consumer and business bankruptcy filings rose 20 percent in the 12-month period ending June 30, 2010, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. It is the highest number of bankruptcy filings for any period since many of the provisions of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 took effect.

Mortgage Delinquencies Still High at 6.67% in Q2: TransUnion

Mortgage delinquencies – borrowers 60 or more days past due – posted a 14.8 percent increase in the second quarter of 2010 compared to the same quarter last year, according to credit reporting bureau TransUnion. The national mortgage delinquency rate was 6.67 percent — a level marginally lower than the 6.77 percent rate reported for the first quarter of this year.

Lowest Interest Rates Fail to Spark Mortgage Applications

A key index that measured mortgage applications last week was essentially unchanged, only nudging up 0.6 percent, despite historically low interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages.

Report: 21.5% of U.S. Homeowners with ‘Underwater’ Mortgages

The percentage of U.S. homeowners in negative equity, or with “underwater” mortgages, slipped to 21.5 percent in the second quarter, down slightly from 23.3 percent in the first quarter and 23 percent a year ago, according to the real estate data site Zillow.com.

30-Year Mortgage Sets Record Low at 4.49%; 15-Year at 3.95%

Fixed-rate mortgages set new lows for the 7th week in a row, with the 30-year at 4.49 percent and the 15-year at 3.95 percent, Freddie Mac said today. The 30-year was down from last week’s rate of 4.54 percent. Last year at this time, it averaged 5.22 percent.

Discover Reduces Lowest Eligible Student Loan Rate

Discover Student Loans, a division of the financial services more widely known for its credit card, said today it is reducing its lowest eligible interest rate to 3.75 percent.

Pending Home Sales Slip Again in Post-Tax Credit Slump

Signed contracts to purchase homes dropped again in June, setting a new low for a key, forward-looking national index that reflects an anemic housing market.

AG: Amazon, Apple e-Book Deals May Be ‘Anti-Competitive’

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said his office is investigating deals struck between the largest U.S. e-book publishers and two of the top sellers — Amazon.com, Inc. and Apple, Inc. — that may block competitors from offering cheaper prices on the same e-books. Describing the e-book market as one ready to explode, Blumenthal said he is concerned that the agreements with publishers will ultimately deprive consumers of competitive prices.

Bank Failures Up 5 More to 108; Florida’s Tally at 20

Five more community banks from Florida, Georgia, Oregon and Washington have failed, siphoning nearly $335 million from the insurance fund of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and pushing this year’s tally of closures to 108.
Florida’s total of bank failures reached 20 – by far the state with the highest closure rate.

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