NEW YORK -

S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian determined this week that August defaults remained within the 7-basis-point range analysts have seen for this particular month during the past four years.

According to data through August for the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices, the auto finance default rate increased 2 basis points on a year-over-year basis to 0.97 percent.

August 2015 produced the low-water mark for the eighth month of the year based on analyst data going back a decade. In August of that year, the default rate came in at 0.90 percent.

While this past August also represented an uptick for the third consecutive month, S&P and Experian indicated the auto default rate has risen only 4 basis points during that span.

Meanwhile, the August composite rate — which represents a comprehensive measure of changes in consumer credit defaults — ticked 1 basis point higher than the previous month to land at 0.87 percent.

Analysts said the bank card default rate dropped 4 basis points to 3.52 percent.

S&P and Experian also reported the first mortgage default rate crept up 2 basis points to 0.65 percent.

Turning next to the geographic segment of the update, analysts noticed three of the five major cities recorded decreases in composite default rates in August.

Miami showed the largest decrease, falling 11 basis points to 1.57.

The default rate for New York dipped 4 basis points to 0.83 percent, while the rate in Dallas fell two basis points to 0.84 percent.

Chicago’s default rate increased 5 basis points to 0.91 percent, while the default rate for Los Angeles climbed 4 basis points to 0.65 percent.

David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, explained that August generated a continuation of the trends of the prior three months, namely lower bank card default rates as well as lower default rates for Miami. Despite these movements, Blitzer pointed out that the overall composite rate has seen little movement, remaining within a 3-basis-point range during this time.

Blitzer added this broad indicator is consistent with the longer-term trend of stability for the composite rate, which has been between 0.81 percent and 0.97 percent in each of the past 41 months.

“Recent economic reports point to continued stability in consumer credit default rates,” Blitzer said. “A review of economic statistics covering the consumer economy is favorable. Job creation continues at about 200,000 per month with the unemployment rate just below 4 percent and wage gains are approaching a 3 percent annual rate.

While jobs and incomes advance, the spending side is showing modest retail sales growth and auto and home sales are flat to down. These trends favor stable default rates in the near term,” he continued.

“Non-revolving credit outstanding, principally auto loans, continue to grow by 4 percent to 5 percent annually while balances on bank cards and revolving credit grew more slowly in the first half of 2018 than in 2017,” Blitzer went on to say. Consumer balance sheets have been largely restored in the decade since the financial crisis and have room for further credit expansion. Interest rates for both groups of loans rose in response to gradual tightening by the Federal Reserve.

He added, “30-year fixed rate mortgage rates are now around 4.5 percent, auto loans at 5 percent or more, and bank cards in the neighborhood of 15 percent.”

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.