American homeowners are on the mad money grab with interest rates at historic lows and home values back at pre-bubble prices.
That is atleast what it looks like after this CNBC article: Refinances Surge as Homeowners Pull out most Cash in 12 Years
Here's the Highlights:
- Refinance lending has nearly doubled over the past three quarters, according to Black Knight.
- Cash-out refinances were up 24% since the last quarter of 2018 and made up 52% of all refinances.
- Homeowners withdrew a collective $36 billion in home equity, the highest amount in nearly 12 years.
THIRTY SIX BILLION! That is nothing to sneeze at when we are talking equity pulled out of homes. Clearly home prices continued higher over the past year.
What blew my mind about this report was the amount of mortgages that were originated in 2018 that were already doing a refinance. It was 1 out of 5 mortgage refinances. These are loans that are roughly a year old...that is some serious appreciation and drops in interest for that to happen.
Interesting times in the real estate market.
