Bank and thrift holdings of home-equity loans declined by 2.5 percent in the third quarter of 2012 compared with the previous quarter, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance Bank Mortgage Database. A significant portion of the holdings remain in a negative equity position, though overall homeowner equity increased in the past year. Banks and thrifts reported $1.11 trillion in total HEL business at the end of the third quarter of 2012, including home-equity lines of credit and closed-end second mortgages held in portfolio, and unused HELOC commitments. The $103.36 billion in CES holdings in the third quarter of 2012 was down 5.8 percent from the previous quarter. Cristian de Ritis, a senior director of consumer credit economics at Moody’s Analytics, said...[Includes one data chart]