Six Major Trends in Lending for Financial Marketers this Year
The forecast for most forms of consumer credit is good. Lending volume, growth in balances, and overall performance look upbeat for the year ahead. Banks and credit unions will try new marketing strategies, explore new products, and experiment with new technologies. Over the next six-weeks, we’ll review major trends in consumer lending that financial marketers should watch closely.
#2 Tap Home Equity to Replace Slumping Mortgage Lending
Rising home prices and rising interest rates have depressed mortgage applications and originations in the last couple of quarters.
CoreLogic reports that U.S. homeowners with mortgages have seen their home equity increase by 9.4%, year over year, as of the third quarter of 2018. That comes to $775.2 billion that can be tapped via home equity lending. CoreLogic says that the average homeowner gained about $12,400 in equity in the first three quarters of 2018.
HELOCs and home equity loans are a business that institutions can build on top of their mortgage portfolio, making it easier to find prospects. For those who can qualify, home equity credit is typically the lowest-rate way to borrow.
However, one result of the past financial crisis, according to Joe Mellman, SVP and Leader of TransUnion’s mortgage line of business, is that “we have a half-generation of consumers who have little knowledge of home-equity credit.” Between lower levels of equity and tightened credit standards, for many, he explains, home equity borrowing wasn’t an option.
So herein lies a challenge — and opportunity — for bank and credit union marketers. “There’s a ten-year gap in education about home equity credit,” says Mellman, “and it’s going to take a while to get filled.”