Cash-Out Refis Cut Into HELs

The millions of homeowners taking cash-out refinancings have led to a decline in home-equity lending, said Eric Belsky, executive director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.

While the numbers are not out yet, he said that estimates from the Federal Reserve will reflect this trend. He added that when 6.5 million borrowers take the cash-out refinancings to borrow against their home-equity, this phenomenon is bound to have some effect.