NY Fed President Wants Consumers to Tap Home Equity: Didn’t We Try That Before?

Mish Talk ^ | 14 August 2017 | Mike “Mish” Shedlock

[Lorianne]

Here’s one that came my way earlier today although the report was from January: New York Fed Chief Dudley has an Idea — Homeowners Should Tap Into Equity.

“New York Fed President William Dudley on Tuesday encouraged homeowners to find “prudent” ways to tap into the equity that has built up in the homes, saying the boost in consumption would be a welcome shot-in-the-arm to the economy.

The shape of household finances was a hidden strength of the economy, he said.

“The good news is that, while the current expansion is quite old in chronological terms, it is still relatively young in terms of the health of household finances,” Dudley said in a speech to the National Retail Federation.

“Whatever the timing, a return to a reasonable pattern of home equity extraction would be a positive development for retailers, and would provide a boost to economic growth,” Dudley said.

Homeowners may have overlearned the lessons from the housing boom and bust, the New York Fed president said.

Even though home values have risen over 40% since 2012, housing debt has stayed virtually flat, he said.”

[mewzilla]

Not only that, but if you get a home equity loan to actually improve your home, you get screwed when your property taxes get jacked up.

Advice to Fed guy: Go urinate up a rope.

[Redmen4ever]

The economy is doing fine. The problems we have are [1] reforming the tax code, [2] reforming health insurance, and [3] shifting part of education to vocational education. Consumer confidence is in very good shape. Its’s good - not bad - that there’s some movement to de-leverage.

[GailA]

Yep, way to go, we paid off the house 2 months ago, 11 yrs earlier than our VA 15 yr mortgage, but it dropped our credit score 15 pts. Since it was the highest you can get no issue. Saving that money for a new mid size SUV now. Will sell my old plain Jane Corolla to my youngest son, as trade in is to low, but his van is junk. With a new baby he needs reliable transportation to work. No guessing if you got a decent 1 off a high $$ used car lot either. And I’ll put the money away for my new grand daughter’s education.