#home-equity-borrowing

#home-equity-borrowing

Ginsburg stated that treating builder business as a core pillar rather than a side channel reflects a broader industry shift. He believes a healthy balance of builders should be around 15% to 20% of the overall retail book of business.

The sharp rise in oil prices and renewed inflation concerns created significant pressure on both stocks and bonds, impacting investor sentiment and market dynamics.

The insights from this report help us think about potential gaps in the loss mitigation waterfall and the types of homeowners who may benefit from targeted support when they experience a crisis.

The scale of the increases reflects limited competition in the mortgage credit score market, where lenders are required to use approved scoring models and have few alternatives.

HousingWire's 2026 Rising Stars honor industry leaders age 40 and under who are making an impact across mortgage, real estate and homebuilding. The honorees represent a range of roles and are recognized for driving innovation, supporting their organizations and contributing to broader industry progress.

In most cases, lenders will not issue a traditional mortgage for land that does not already have a home or building on it. Mortgages are designed for developed properties because houses provide immediate collateral value and are generally easier to sell if a borrower defaults.

Refinance applications increased for the fourth straight week to the strongest pace since 2022, with conventional refinances up 20%. The increase in the average loan size for refinances indicates that more borrowers with larger loan sizes are seeking to lower their monthly payments.

ATTOM's report said Q4 2025 marked the lowest share of equity-rich properties since late 2021 while emphasizing that overall equity levels continue to compare favorably with historical benchmarks. In early 2020, only about one-quarter of mortgaged homes were considered equity rich. After years of rapid gains, homeowner equity is settling into a more sustainable range, and that's not a negative sign for the market, said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM.

Realtor Todd Luong of REMAX DFW Associates in Frisco said his recent experience reflects meaningful improvement for buyers, even if affordability remains strained. Here in the Dallas real estate market that I serve, affordability remains a challenge, he says. However, there is a significant amount of data showing that buyer conditions have improved over the past year and that buyers are gaining affordability ground. This should eventually increase housing demand to some degree as we head into the busy spring buying season.