Mark Dolliver's Takes: No Equity Like Home Equity

Maybe the word “homeowners” is a misnomer, as Americans have been busily extracting equity from their homes. According to an Experian/ Gallup Personal Credit Index poll, 25 percent of homeowners have both a first mortgage and a home-equity loan or line of credit. As you can see from the chart below, home-equity loans are more common in higher-income households than in their lower-income counterparts. That’s partly because old folks (who tend to have lower incomes than current workers) are the people most likely to have no mortgage whatsoever.