Home equity loans

It’s the one consumer loan category where balances continue to fall, and disruption from nimbler fintechs is a big reason why. To win back market share, banks will need to beat the upstarts at their own game.

Live Well Financial, a reverse and traditional mortgage lender that abruptly stopped originating on May 3, will lay off 103 employees, according to a Virginia Employment Commission filing.

Lower interest rates increased Bank of America's first-quarter residential mortgage volume by 21% over the previous year, while home equity dropped by 25%.

Point, which provides an alternative to traditional home equity lending products, has raised $122 million in new capital from eight investors to expand its reach.

Home equity is at an all-time high, but consumers aren't taking advantage of this financing option, according to LendingTree.

A pair of professors with industry ties say reverse mortgages deserve a second look, partly because of a series of federal reforms in recent years designed to protect taxpayers and consumers.

While millennials comprise the largest cohort of homebuyers, the aging baby boomer generation has created 7.86 million more homeowners and 2.82 million renters age 60 and older — growth rates higher than any other demographic.

Figure, the startup headed by Mike Cagney, uses blockchain technology to provide home equity loans in as little as five days. It intends to use the newly raised funds to offer other services, including wealth management.

Home equity loans the Federal Housing Administration offers to older borrowers are in a better position now that the government shutdown has temporarily ended.

Better Mortgage has launched a mortgage refinance program to help federal government employees affected by the shutdown utilize their home equity for living expenses.