U.S. Homeowners Enjoying Higher Home Equity in 2012
A silver lining has etched it way to the housing market in 2012. According to the latest Federal Reserve statistics analyzed by Bloomberg, the first quarter of 2012 saw a $6.12 trillion boost in home equity, where homeowners benefited from affordable borrowing expenses to refinance their loans. This paved the way for cash to be laid down on the table to compensate for a lower principal. The gains achieved in the first quarter of 2012 has been the highest since 2008 and the 7.3 percent growth has been dubbed as the highest achievement for more than 60 years. It’s virtually a good sign after American homeowners have squeezed out of the mortgage crunch that hounded them a few years ago. Freddie Mac, a government-run mortgage firm, supported the easing out of the housing crisis as half of the refinanced mortgages in the last quarter of 2011 were already diminished notably.