The average U.S. credit score – a predictor of the likelihood consumers would pay off loans –  rose to the highest level in at least four years, Bloomberg reported.

The average score for May was 696 out of a possible 850, according to Equifax Inc., a provider of consumer-credit data. The ratio of consumer-debt payments to incomes is the lowest since 1994, Federal Reserve data show.

Improving credit quality gives households the ability to increase borrowing as concerns ease about rising gasoline prices, hard-to-find jobs and falling home prices.

“The financial situation of the household sector has improved far faster and far more than everyone thought it would two years ago,” said James Paulsen, chief investment strategist for Wells Capital Management, in an interview with Bloomberg. “People are still locked into the view that consumers are facing record burdens, and they are not. There has been a change that is sustainable and durable.”

More borrowing could help spur growth slowed by higher gas prices, he said. That will make stocks more attractive than bonds, and could push the Standard & Poor’s 500 index up about 8 percent by year’s end.