The Real Deal New York

This holiday season, housing-related woes are expected to cause consumers to cut down on their spending on gifts, decorations and parties. Refinancing with a larger mortgage had been popular way for borrowers to pay off the first mortgage and keep the remaining cash through “cash-out refinancing.” But mortgage delinquencies are at record highs, home values are falling and mortgage-equity withdrawals are well off the peak hit in the second half of 2006, forcing homeowners to cut back on spending.