Smart Borrower Blog

Archive for May, 2013

Average U.S. Graduate Debt Tops $35,000

A recent survey found that 57 percent of 2013 U.S. college graduates specifically chose their major because they thought it would help them get a better paying job. And that’s good; they’re going to need that lucrative job to pay off all their student loans. That same survey, conducted by the Fidelity Investments firm, found […]

Mortgage Financing Fails to Keep Up With Rising Prices

Prices for U.S. homes continue their dramatic incline, giving the housing market a boost and contributing to the growth of the overall economy. But is the trend sustainable? Some economists suggest that ultra-tight mortgage standards may prevent the housing recovery from staying its course. The National Association of Realtors reported this week that existing U.S. […]

Auto Lending – and Late Payments – Increase in First Quarter

Looser lending standards likely contributed to a jump in late car payments and repossessions in the first quarter, according to data from Experian Automotive. The number of auto loan borrowers who were delinquent on their payment by 30 days or more in the first quarter rose 1.3 percent from the same quarter in 2012, and […]

American Consumers Cut Credit Card Spending

Americans scaled back on their credit card purchases in March, while overall consumer credit use rose much less than expected, according to the latest report from the Federal Reserve. Total consumer credit increased by just $7.97 billion in March to a total of $2.81 trillion, the smallest monthly gain in eight months. Most economists had […]

Small Businesses Cut Back on Borrowing As Fed Promises More Purchases

U.S. Small businesses are borrowing less, according to a leading Index, a disappointing sign for the economy in the next few months. The Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index, a measure of total financing to small U.S. Firms, fell to 98.5 in March from 105.4 in February. Compared with March 2012, the index is unchanged. […]