Mortgage Statistics 2026: U.S. Debt, Rates, and Homeownership

Mortgage statistics: the short version

Mortgage statistics show why housing still dominates the U.S. consumer debt picture. Americans owed $13.191 trillion on mortgages at the end of Q1 2026, according to the New York Fed. That was 70.2% of all household debt in the report. Home-equity lines of credit added another $446 billion.

Mortgage originations were $529.8 billion in Q1 2026, and most of that volume came from high-score borrowers. The New York Fed reported that borrowers with credit scores of 760 or higher accounted for $312.2 billion of Q1 mortgage originations.

Rates remain high by post-2020 standards. Freddie Mac put the 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 6.43% on July 2, 2026, and the 15-year fixed rate at 5.79%. Use this page as a citable reference for mortgage statistics, mortgage market statistics US, and US mortgage data. This is general information, not lending, legal, or tax advice.

Total U.S. mortgage debt and HELOC balances

Mortgage balances reached $13.191 trillion in Q1 2026. That made mortgages the largest household debt category by a wide margin, ahead of auto loans, student loans, credit cards, HELOCs, and other debt.

Home-equity revolving balances were $446 billion. HELOC balances are separate from first-lien mortgage balances in the New York Fed table, so adding them gives a broader view of debt secured by home equity. Borrowers comparing home-equity options should understand the tradeoff between a cash-out refinance and a HELOC before replacing an existing low-rate mortgage.

The practical borrower question is not only how much debt the market carries. It is how much payment fits a household budget. A simple starting point is the mortgage-to-income ratio, which we break down in our guide to how much of your income should go to a mortgage.

Mortgage rates and affordability in 2026

Freddie Mac reported a 6.43% average rate for 30-year fixed mortgages on July 2, 2026. That was down from 6.49% the prior week and 6.67% one year earlier, but still high enough to keep payment affordability tight for many buyers.

A 6% to 7% mortgage market changes the math for down payments, debt-to-income ratios, and closing cash. Buyers should compare lender fees and prepaid costs as carefully as the headline rate. Our closing costs guide explains the cash due at settlement, and our pre-approval guide explains how lenders size a buyer before the offer stage.

Home prices also matter. FHFA reported that U.S. house prices were up 1.7% from Q1 2025 to Q1 2026, with a 0.5% increase from Q4 2025 to Q1 2026. Slower price growth helps, but it does not erase the payment shock created by higher rates.

Mortgage originations by credit score

The New York Fed reported $529.8 billion in mortgage originations in Q1 2026. Borrowers with credit scores of 760 or higher accounted for $312.2 billion, or about 58.9% of the total.

That does not mean lower-score borrowers cannot get a mortgage. It means the dollar volume of new mortgage debt is concentrated among borrowers who already look strong on credit. Government-backed lending can still matter for buyers with smaller down payments or thinner credit profiles, including options covered in our FHA loans guide.

The median credit score for newly originated mortgages was 762 in Q1 2026. The 25th percentile was 710, and the 10th percentile was 662. New York Fed notes that Q1 2026 began using VantageScore 4.0 in this series, so use care when comparing the score distribution with earlier years.

Mortgage originations by borrower age

Borrowers ages 30 to 39 accounted for the largest Q1 2026 mortgage-origination dollar volume in the New York Fed data, at about $156.3 billion. The 40 to 49 group followed at $128.5 billion.

This pattern fits a market where many first-time buyers purchase in their 30s, while many move-up buyers, repeat buyers, and refinancers remain active through their 40s and 50s. Borrowers age 70 and older still originated $34.4 billion in mortgage debt during the quarter, often reflecting downsizing, relocation, refinancing, or later-life home purchases.

Age data is useful for understanding who is getting new mortgage credit. It should not be read as a measure of who owns homes, because ownership rates also depend on past purchases, household formation, inheritance, and local housing costs.

Homeownership rate by age, income, and region

The Census Bureau estimated the U.S. homeownership rate at 65.3% in Q1 2026. The headline rate hides major gaps by age, income, and region.

Households under 35 had a 36.8% homeownership rate, while households age 65 and older had a 78.4% rate. That gap is not surprising: older households have had more time to save, buy, pay down loans, and benefit from past home-price appreciation.

Income gaps are also large. Households below the median family income had a 52.4% homeownership rate, compared with 78.2% for households at or above the median. Regionally, the Midwest had the highest rate at 70.1%, while the West had the lowest at 60.7%.

State-by-state mortgage statistics

State mortgage data is shaped by home prices, incomes, migration, local property taxes, insurance costs, and foreclosure rules. The New York Fed state workbook shows the largest mortgage debt per capita in high-cost markets and the smallest per-capita balances in lower-cost states.

In Q4 2025, the District of Columbia had the highest mortgage debt per capita in the workbook at $78,140. Colorado, California, Washington, Hawaii, and Utah followed. At the other end, West Virginia and Mississippi had the lowest per-capita mortgage balances.

Delinquency rankings tell a different story. Louisiana and Mississippi had the highest 90+ day mortgage delinquency rates in Q4 2025, while Wisconsin and Montana had the lowest among the reviewed jurisdictions.

Mortgage delinquency and foreclosure risk

Serious mortgage delinquency remained low in Q1 2026 compared with unsecured credit categories. The New York Fed reported that 1.09% of mortgage balances were 90 or more days delinquent. Its transition-rate data showed 1.48% of mortgage balances flowing into serious delinquency during the quarter.

That does not mean the market is stress-free. Higher insurance premiums, property taxes, repair costs, and payment resets can hit individual homeowners hard. But at the national level, mortgage delinquency was still far below credit-card delinquency in the same New York Fed report.

Age also matters. The flow into serious mortgage delinquency was 1.73% for borrowers ages 18 to 29 and 1.66% for ages 30 to 39, compared with 0.84% for borrowers age 70 and older.

Mortgage market data sources: HMDA, NY Fed, FRED, and agencies

No single mortgage dataset answers every question. The New York Fed is strong for household debt balances, originations, credit-score bands, age groups, and delinquency rates. Freddie Mac is a standard weekly source for mortgage rates. The Census Bureau tracks homeownership and vacancy rates. FHFA tracks house-price changes.

HMDA is different. The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act dataset is best for application-level analysis: loan purpose, applicant demographics, pricing, lender, geography, approvals, denials, and originations. It is the right source for fair-lending and market-access questions, but it is not the quickest way to cite current national mortgage balances.

FRED is useful for time-series work because it republishes many Federal Reserve, Census, and housing-market series in one interface. When using FRED, cite the original source when the underlying agency or bank data matters for methodology.

Mortgage forecasts for <YEAR+1>

Forecasts are not facts, but they help frame what lenders, buyers, and researchers expect next. Fannie Mae's June 2026 housing forecast projected $2.345 trillion in single-family mortgage originations for 2026 and $2.465 trillion for 2027.

The same forecast put the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate near 6.3% for both 2026 and 2027. If that path holds, affordability would improve only slowly unless incomes rise, home-price growth cools, or buyers put more cash down.

For borrowers, the key lesson is practical: the monthly payment can change more than the home price suggests. A buyer comparing homes should test several rate and down-payment scenarios before shopping for a mortgage loan.

Methodology and source notes

This page uses the latest mortgage datasets available in early July 2026. National household-debt balances, origination volumes, credit-score bands, age groups, and delinquency rates come from the New York Fed's Q1 2026 Household Debt and Credit release and data bank.

State-level mortgage debt and delinquency tables use the New York Fed state workbook available through Q4 2025. Homeownership rates come from the Census Bureau's Q1 2026 Housing Vacancies and Homeownership release. Mortgage-rate data comes from Freddie Mac's July 2, 2026 Primary Mortgage Market Survey. House-price data comes from FHFA's Q1 2026 House Price Index. Forecast figures come from Fannie Mae's June 2026 housing forecast.

Percentages are rounded to one decimal place when shown as shares, except delinquency rates where the source precision is useful. Dollar amounts are rounded for readability. Because source definitions differ, do not combine balances, originations, rates, applications, and homeownership rates as if they were one dataset.