The auto finance default rate reported by S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian for December fell in line at nearly the same reading as what analysts reported at the close of each of the previous two years.

Data through December included in the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices showed the auto rate at 1.03 percent, which was 3 basis points higher than the previous month.

At the close of 2015, the auto default rate stood at 1.04 percent. When 2014 finished, the reading was 1.02 percent.

For reference, the auto loan default rate at the close of 2009 when the nation still was gripped in the Great Recession was 2.67 percent, which was the third-highest reading ever recorded by S&P and Experian going back 10 years.

Turning back to the latest data, the nation’s composite rate — a comprehensive measure of changes in consumer credit defaults — ticked up 2 basis points in December compared to the previous month to land at 0.89 percent.

The bank card default rate registered in at 2.95 percent, up 14 basis points from November.

The first mortgage default rate came in at 0.71 percent, edging 1 basis point higher versus November.

Analysts noted four of the five major cities saw their default rates increase in the month of December.

Miami posted the largest increase, reporting in at 1.53 percent, up nine basis points from November.

Chicago and Los Angeles both reported two basis point increases from November at 0.98 percent and 0.72 percent, respectively, in December.

Dallas saw its default rate increase, up 1 basis point to 0.67 percent.

New York was the only city reporting a default rate decrease of 4 basis points from November to settle at 0.87 percent.  

S&P and Experian found that Miami’s default rate of 1.53 percent in December set a 30-month high, unseen since June 2014.

Upon further analysis of Miami's default rate composition, Miami's first mortgage default rate in December is considerably higher than the South’s first mortgage default rate and the national first mortgage default rate. David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, explained that it’s worth noting that the South’s first mortgage default rate is higher than the national default rate.       

“National average consumer credit default rates continue at low levels in an improving economy” Blitzer said. “Auto and light truck sales were up each month since August as automobile consumer credit defaults held steady.

“Bank card sector defaults ticked up slightly in the last two months, reversing five months of flat to down reports,” he continued. “This may reflect rising retail since the spring and larger consumer credit extensions in October and November.

“Mortgage default patterns are also stable,” Blizter went on say. “This favorable picture is likely to be tested by rising interest rates; home mortgage rates rose by three-quarters of 1 percent since Election Day.”

Blitzer closed by circling back to the geographic segment of the latest data.

“Consumer credit default rates and economic conditions vary across the country,” he said. “Among the five cities reported on each month, Miami has a larger and increasing first mortgage foreclosure rate.

“Home prices in Miami, as in most cities, have recovered from the financial crisis. However, Miami home prices, as measured by the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index, as of October 2016 were 22 percent below their December 2006 peak, while nationally, home prices have recently surpassed the pre-crisis peak set in July 2006,” Blitzer continued.

“Florida also lags national trends in other measures — it is among the five states with the most foreclosures in 2016,” he added.

Jointly developed by S&P Indices and Experian, analysts noted the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices are published monthly with the intent to accurately track the default experience of consumer balances in four key loan categories: auto, bankcard, first mortgage lien and second mortgage lien.

The indices are calculated based on data extracted from Experian’s consumer credit database. This database is populated with individual consumer loan and payment data submitted by lenders to Experian every month.

Experian’s base of data contributors includes leading banks and mortgage companies and covers approximately $11 trillion in outstanding loans sourced from 11,500 lenders.