Mortgage Equity Withdrawal Still Strong in Q2; Homeowners now relying on Home Equity lines to extract equity

Today, in the Real Estate Newsletter: Mortgage Equity Withdrawal Still Strong in Q2

Excerpt:

Here is the quarterly increase in mortgage debt from the Federal Reserve’s Financial Accounts of the United States - Z.1 (sometimes called the Flow of Funds report) released on Friday. In the mid ‘00s, there was a large increase in mortgage debt associated with the housing bubble.

In Q2 2022, mortgage debt increased $263 billion, the most since 2006. Note the almost 7 years of declining mortgage debt as distressed sales (foreclosures and short sales) wiped out a significant amount of debt.

However, some of this debt is being used to increase the housing stock (purchase new homes), so this isn’t all Mortgage Equity Withdrawal (MEW).

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