From The Real Deal:
With home values surging, American homeowners are tapping their equity at a rate not seen since before the Great Recession.
Homeowners tapped a combined $80 billion in equity through cash-out refinancing in the fourth quarter of last year, according to mortgage data provider Black Knight — the highest amount in any quarter since 2007 and the fifth consecutive quarter in which more than 1 million cash-out refinances were originated.
Seems like a no-duh type of a situation given home prices going to the moon, but I do wish somebody would do some research on what these homeowners who used their houses like ATMs did with all that cash. Maybe they did it to keep not participating in the labor force. Or if they lived in California, maybe they filled up their gas tank once or twice.
I’m guessing quite a few of these homeowners bought investment properties with the cash-out refinancing proceeds. But that’s a pure guess. Maybe somebody reading this knows.
-rsh
