Signaling growing confidence in housing, new home equity revolving lines of credit totaled more than $44 billion year-to-date through July 2012, a three-year high, according to Equifax’s October National Consumer Credit Trends Report released on Oct. 16, 2012. Revolving home equity credit experienced a 9 percent increase from the recession low for the same period set in 2010 of $40.6 billion.
According to the report, write-off rates among home equity revolving lines fell 1.3 percent in September to 2.15 percent, the lowest level since April 2009.
Other highlights from the most recent data include:
- The number of new revolving home equity lines of credit year-to-date through July 2012 stood at 495,000, a three-year high, though more than 76 percent lower than the seven-year high of more than 2 million through July 2006.
- Home equity revolving lines of credit fell 20 percent to $537 in September 2012 billion after peaking at $680 billion in May 2009.
- Since November 2007, the total number of home equity revolving accounts has declined more than 34 percent, from 14.7 million to 11 million in September 2012.
- The total balances of severely delinquent mortgages through September 2012 ($419 billion) have decreased 41 percent since peaking in March 2010 ($714 billion). Of note is that more than 76 percent of severely delinquent balances among home equity revolving credit balances are sourced from originations between 2005 and 2007.
- First mortgage balances of $7.85 trillion in September 2012 decreased 3.4 percent from the same month a year ago.
- Severely delinquent balances among agency sourced first mortgages (FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) have fallen more than 13 percent to $125 billion since peaking in March 2010 ($145 billion). In that same time, however, nonagency sourced (private investors and banks) first mortgage balances showed a 48 percent decrease.
- First mortgages opened between 2005 and 2007 comprise 68 percent of severely delinquent mortgage balances yet they represent just less than 27 percent of all first mortgages outstanding.