- Already arrived or coming to a hardware store near you on the East Coast is the TD Bank (NYSE:TD) tour bus equipped with iPads, where homeowners can start the application process on a home-equity line of credit.
- With the mortgage origination market sluggish, banks are betting on growth with HELOCs - particularly as homeowners hold onto homes for longer-than-expected and rebounding home prices allow some equity with which to borrow on.
- HELOCs last year totaled more than $156B, the largest amount since 2007, according to CoreLogic. That's up 24% from 2014 and 138% since the 2010 bottom (during the boom, $300B and up was the norm). The average line extended of $119,790 was a record (on data going back to 2002).
- JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and PNC Financial (NYSE:PNC) are also among those making the push, trying to convince customers that borrowing on their home for that dream kitchen or junior's education makes good sense.
- “Having the HELOC means we can use the money in savings for reserves and a vacation to go visit our kids,” says one satisfied customer.