Equity Home Loans

How much mortgage debt is there in the USA?

Given all the worries about credit in this country, and subprime mortgages, I was curious as to what the entire amount of home mortgage debt is. There are about 110 million households in the country, with 70% of them owned residences. Let's say there are 75 million owned homes. Not all have mortgages, but if 70 million do, and the average mortgage amount on such homes is $200,000, that comes out to a scary $14 TRILLION of mortgage debt in the USA. If just 2% default, the amount of bad home loans is $280 billion. It could obviously be much higher. Does anyone know what total mortgage debt is per household and in total? This is a real problem that could damage the economy.

Public Comments

1. You bring up an important question. The best data I can find on the 'net are figures for 2003 (USA Today) - nothing newer available according to them. If that number is correct then the total mortgage debt in the US, 2003, $6.3 trillion. Some adjustments must be made for the past four years- higher, I'm sure. Lots of bucks out there!!