Home-equity lending stumbled in early 2018, although borrower demand and lender interest both seem relatively strong, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis. [Includes three data charts.]
The amount of home equity outstanding hit a record in 2017, surpassing the previous peak seen in the run up to the financial crisis. Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York note that equity extraction by borrowers has been limited by tight underwriting standards.
Over the years it seems as though commercial banks have basically ceded the multifamily market to nonbanks that use the GSEs as their secondary market takeout…