Early-stage delinquencies at U.S. banks ticked up again in the second quarter as the pandemic recovery gave way to inflation and interest rate hikes.

Early-stage delinquencies, or loans and leases past due between 30 days and 89 days, totaled $49.42 billion in the second quarter, up about 5.8% quarter over quarter and up roughly 34% from a year ago, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence Data. Loans and leases past due 90 days or more also increased by approximately 24% year over year to $12.80 billion.

The movement in credit quality metrics is a result of normalization, not deterioration, Ameris Bancorp CEO H. Palmer Proctor Jr. said on the company's July 27 earnings call.

"Once we get into a more normalized environment, you don't want people to mistake normalization for deterioration," the CEO said.

Some credit quality metrics did improve year over year during the quarter.

Nonperforming assets totaled $94.42 billion, down 19% from the same period a year ago, while nonaccrual loans totaled $53.30 billion, down nearly 23% from the second quarter of 2021.

Further, restructured loans and leases were down to $37.54 billion in the second quarter from $42.46 billion in the year-ago period.

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Commercial loans remain stable

Construction was the only commercial lending segment that logged an increased delinquency ratio quarter over quarter, rising by 12 basis points to 0.90%.

Year over year, all other loan categories' delinquency ratios showed improvement, with the farm segment's loan delinquency ratio improving by 60 basis points and multifamily and commercial and industrial loans improving by 15 basis points and 3 basis points, respectively. The commercial real estate segment's loan delinquency ratio improved by 31 basis points year over year in the second quarter, after a slight uptick in the first quarter.

Increase in auto delinquencies

In the consumer loan category, the delinquency ratio for auto loans worsened, rising by 25 basis points quarter over quarter and 55 basis points year over year.

Meanwhile, the delinquency ratio also worsened for other consumer loans, increasing by 11 basis points quarter over quarter and 3 basis points from a year-ago period.

Record Q2 home mortgage loan quality

As of June 30, the delinquency ratio for one- to four-family mortgage loans at U.S. banks stood at 2.09%. The year-over-year decline in the second quarter also marked the first improvement after two consecutive years of increases.

Continued improvement in delinquent mortgage loan balance

Among the top 10 banks by total delinquent one- to four-family mortgage loan balances in the second quarter, Midland Financial Co. had the highest delinquency ratio at 26.19%, while The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. recorded the biggest year-over-year increase at $266.0 million.

Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. retained the top two positions with the largest delinquent balances in the category.

Overall, the total balance of delinquent mortgage loans for the industry improved to $54.97 billion, down from $60.78 billion in the first quarter.