ABFS acquires ESI Mortgage

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.