Lenders generated $25.0 billion in home-equity loans during the third quarter of 2015, according to Inside Mortgage Finance estimates, a modest 4.2 percent increase at a time when first-lien originations were fading. Home-equity lending – including open-ended lines of credit and closed-end second liens – hit its highest volume since the second quarter of 2008. Crashing home prices and extremely cautious underwriting have drastically reduced new home-equity lending. There is...[Includes three data tables]