Home equity numbers decline

In the first such decline since 1999, the amount U.S. borrowers owe on their home equity lines of credit was down to $561 billion in the past six months. Home-equity borrowing, meanwhile, increased a meager 9 percent in the past year, down significantly from the 21 percent average growth rate of the five prior years. “People are feeling uncertain about the value of their home and are feeling tapped out,” says Doreen Woo Ho, president of Wells Fargo’s consumer-credit group. The trend could have broad implications for consumer spending. more [WSJ]