Survey says most homeowners overlook home equity loansMortgagePress.comSurvey,Home Equity Loans,Homeowners,Consumers
In a survey released by Champion Mortgage, 58 percent of
homeowners said that they have never had a home equity loan or
credit line, and have never considered applying for one. In
addition, 56 percent of the homeowners surveyed nationwide stated
that they would not consider using the equity in their homes to
consolidate high levels of debt. "This finding suggests that even
after a history-making mortgage boom over the last four years,
there is a substantial opportunity to educate consumers on the
merits of using the equity of their home," said economist John M.
Urbanchuk, director of LECG, a leading economics consulting
group.
Among homeowners who already have or have considered applying
for credit lines or loans, home improvement projects were
identified as the leading use of these funds at 57 percent. The
next most common uses were to consolidate outstanding debt at 29
percent and paying credit card bills at 25 percent. Outstanding
debt may include student loans, medical bills and automobile
loans.
International Communications Research (ICR), an independent
market research firm, conducted this new national survey. ICR
polled a nationwide sample of 748 homeowners. The margin for error
for the results is more or less than 3.6 percent.
Seventy-three percent of the homeowners surveyed indicated that
a slight rise in interest rates would have no impact on their
willingness to apply for new home equity loans or lines of credit.
Twenty-four percent said that an interest rate increase would make
them less likely to apply.
For more information, visit www.champion.com.
