{"id":2691,"date":"2025-09-06T07:54:43","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T07:54:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/2025\/09\/06\/home-equity-news-this-weeks-roundup-bankrate-4\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T07:54:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T07:54:43","slug":"home-equity-news-this-weeks-roundup-bankrate-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/2025\/09\/06\/home-equity-news-this-weeks-roundup-bankrate-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Equity News: This Week’s Roundup | Bankrate"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The top stories in home equity, mortgages and real estate<\/h2>\n

Interest rates roundup<\/h3>\n

A big bank locks in on HELOCs<\/h3>\n

Like many lenders, Chase stopped offering home equity lines of credit five years ago, as the pandemic ramped up. But now the big bank is back, hoping to cash in on the growing numbers of folks seeking to tap their home\u2019s value. How does its new HELOC compare to others in the field? <\/p>\n

Turn your home equity into your next home<\/h3>\n

You may not realize it, but if you\u2019ve got some home equity built up, you might be able to use it to help buy a second place. Using a home equity loan or HELOC can give you extra cash for a bigger down payment or even to buy home number two outright. However, the strategy is not without its risks.\u2026<\/p>\n

The key number to affording a home <\/h3>\n

When trying to swing a home purchase, what matters more: mortgage rates or listing prices? The answer might surprise you \u2014 but hear our arguments for why you should watch interest rates over discounted price tags. <\/p>\n

What to do if your HELOC\u2019s got a new home<\/h3>\n

Occasionally, home equity lenders just stop lending, which can feel a bit unsettling if it happens to you. The good news is, it won\u2019t affect your home equity loan or HELOC \u2014 much. But it may mean a few changes, like who services your account or where you send payments.<\/p>\n

Take the mortgage, keep your investments<\/h3>\n

With mortgage rates still elevated, some homebuyers are tempted to pay cash to pay those record-high home prices, selling off stocks and other investments to do so. Not a good move, our experts say. Read why they usually suggest keeping your portfolio intact and borrowing instead. <\/p>\n

Home is where the equity is<\/h3>\n

Home values have climbed so much that almost half of U.S. homeowners with mortgages are now \u201cequity rich,\u201d meaning they owe less than half of what their home is worth. That can give them more financial flexibility, like easier access to loans and better borrowing terms, but it\u2019s not all free money. <\/p>\n

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47.4% <\/p>\n

Percentage of mortgaged residential properties considered \u201cequity-rich\u201d in 2Q 2025 <\/p>\n

Source: ATTOM Data Solutions <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

In case you missed it<\/h2>\n

Technically, these stories were released in the previous weeks, but they\u2019re still worth highlighting.<\/p>\n

Where to score the best home equity loan<\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re thinking about tapping your home\u2019s equity, there are more options today: You can go to big banks, credit unions, mortgage lenders, or even online-only lenders. Each type of lender offers its own perks \u2014 and drawbacks. Here\u2019s how to compare them.<\/p>\n

Affordable homes are harder to find and fix<\/h3>\n

Finding the funds to buy a home is tough, especially if it\u2019s your first time around. But if you think that turning to a fixer-upper or rehabbing a foreclosed property would help save money, think again. Our expert contributor Rick Sharga explains how rising labor and material costs can actually make that bargain buy backfire. <\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

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Unlock your home\u2019s value <\/h3>\n

Achieve your financial goals with predictable payments on a lump-sum home equity loan.<\/p>\n

Explore offers <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

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Did you find this page helpful? <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Help us improve our content<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The top stories in home equity, mortgages and real estate Interest rates roundup A big bank locks in on HELOCs Like many lenders, Chase stopped offering home equity lines of credit five years ago, as the pandemic ramped up. But now the big bank is back, hoping to cash in on the growing numbers of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/413-Banking-3-25-news-roundup.jpg",1280,720,false],"thumbnail":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/413-Banking-3-25-news-roundup-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/413-Banking-3-25-news-roundup-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/413-Banking-3-25-news-roundup-768x432.jpg",640,360,true],"large":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/413-Banking-3-25-news-roundup-1024x576.jpg",640,360,true],"1536x1536":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/413-Banking-3-25-news-roundup.jpg",1280,720,false],"2048x2048":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/413-Banking-3-25-news-roundup.jpg",1280,720,false],"morenews-featured":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/413-Banking-3-25-news-roundup-1024x576.jpg",1024,576,true],"morenews-large":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/413-Banking-3-25-news-roundup-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/413-Banking-3-25-news-roundup-590x410.jpg",590,410,true],"crawlomatic_preview_image":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/413-Banking-3-25-news-roundup-260x146.jpg",260,146,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"henry","author_link":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/author\/henry\/"},"category_info":"Latest News<\/a>","tag_info":"Latest News","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}