SCHAUMBURG, Ill. -

Outstanding auto loan balances have reached a record high, Experian Automotive announced on Wednesday, their highest since the company began publicly reporting the data seven years ago.

According to Experian’s latest State of the Automotive Finance Market report, outstanding balances on automotive loans reached $782.9 billion, up $103 billion from Q3 2012.

In other positive news, the report also showed 30-day automotive loan delinquencies down 3.4 percent over last year, going from 2.67 percent in Q3 2012 to 2.58 percent in Q3 2013. Six-day delinquencies remained flat.

"The combination of higher loan balances and relatively flat loan delinquencies is good news for everyone connected to the automotive industry, including consumers, lenders, retailers and manufacturers," said Melinda Zabritski, senior director of Automotive Lending for Experian Automotive.

"The availability of credit, combined with consumers' continued strong performance repaying their loans, has a positive spiral effect,” Zabritski said. “It allows lenders to slowly but surely take on additional risk while providing more access to loans and paving the way for higher auto sales."

Per the Experian report, auto loan balances showing the fastest percentage growth year over year include California, up 29.3 percent; Texas, up 26.3 percent; and Nevada, up 26.0 percent.

States with the slowest growth rates year over year include Hawaii, up 12.4 percent; Wyoming, up 12.3 percent; and Michigan, up 6.8 percent.

On the delinquency side, Experian found states with the steepest decline in loan balances currently 30 days delinquent year over year include Hawaii, down 12.75 percent; Vermont, down 11.69 percent; and Oregon, down 11.64 percent.

States with the biggest jump in 30-day automotive loan balance delinquencies year over year include Rhode Island, up 18.53 percent, Wyoming, which also was among slowest-growth states, up 11.98 percent; and Alaska, up 10.24 percent.

One area of the Experian report not showing positive results was a sharp increase in vehicle repossessions for the quarter. In Q3 2012, the repossession rate was 0.40 percent, but the rate jumped to 0.62 percent in Q3 2013, a 54.4-percent increase.

That increase in repossessions, however, was limited entirely to finance companies, Experian said, which typically provide loans to the subprime market.

Finance companies saw their repossession rate jump 124.9 percent, going from 1.18 percent in Q3 2012 to 2.66 percent in Q3 2013. Repossession rates for captive finance companies, banks and credit unions all dropped slightly in the quarter.

In other findings, Experian reported:

—Outstanding loans in the nonprime, subprime and deep-subprime segments were up slightly, 36 percent in Q3 2013 from 35.9 percent in Q3 2012

—The percentage of loan dollars at 30 days delinquent rose slightly, 2.16 percent in Q3 2012 to 2.17 percent in Q3 2013

—The percentage of loan dollars at 60 days delinquent rose slightly, 0.50 percent in Q3 2012 to 0.52 percent in Q3 2013

—The average charge-off amount for loans gone bad jumped from $7,026 in Q3 2012 to $7,770 in Q3 2013.