Home equity lines of credit started out this year higher, but their volumes still pale in comparison to auto lending and they are not growing as quickly as student loans, according to Equifax’s latest monthly credit trends report.
HELOCs increased almost 16% in February 2013 compared to the same month a year ago, rising to $12.4 billion from $10.7 billion.
This form of consumer lending is outpacing auto lending’s 11% increase during the time period in terms of percentage growth, but auto lending volumes are higher at $69.6 billion.
“In the past, some students might have relied on their parents who would have funded tuition payments using home equity lines of credit, but the small volume of home equity lending that is occurring today, at a little over $12 billion, is not sufficient to cover those costs,” Equifax chief economist Amy Crews-Cutts said in a press release.
Combined consumer lending during the January-February period of this year, at $141 billion, has the highest balance in that time period in five years, according to Equifax.
