The S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices released today showed that monthly default rates declined in several categories such as first mortgage, second mortgage, bank card and auto loans.

"Defaulting balances of bank card loans were 8.8 percent in June, down from 8.9 percent in May. First and second mortgage default rates were 3.3 percent and 2.4 percent respectively, with first mortgage default rates decline 5.0 percent from last month and 45.2 percent from a year ago. Auto loan defaults were down 1.7 percent in June, down from 1.8 percent in May.

"The consumer credit picture shows encouraging progress as default rates continue to fall across major categories and in the highlighted cities. The data are consistent with reports that people continue to eschew debt and as the slow recovery from recession and financial turmoil continues. For the economy this is mixed news - better credit quality, as seen in this report, is clearly positive. However, as reported earlier by the Federal Reserve, consumers credit use is declining, dampening the outlook for spending," declared David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor's.

Among the five major Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the report, New York "had the largest decline in defaults in the last month at 12.11 percent while Dallas showed the smallest decrease of 29.59 percent in the past year." The change from June 2009 for New York was minus 32.97 percent, 33.60 percent for Chicago, 40.02 percent for Los Angeles.

"The sharpest decline was in Miami," the report continued, "where defaults have declined 53.55 percent in the last 12 months."