Connect with the the authors: kenneth.flaherty@curinos.com
As 2025 enters its final stretch, the home equity market continues to lean towards the upside. Curinos’ Home Equity data, captured directly from lenders, show originations up 18% year over year through Q3 2025, reflecting a powerful mix of consumer demand and lender adaptability (see chart). Looking ahead, Curinos projects an additional 4% growth in 2026, fueled by anticipated rate relief and rising consumer confidence.
Monthly Home Equity Market Balance Trends
Source: LendersBenchmark HE Portfolio
Yet beneath this strong headline, the story is more nuanced. Demand is cooling in parts of the Southeast, where price softening is beginning to curb borrowers’ willingness to leverage their home’s equity for needs like debt consolidation and home improvements. At the same time, cycle times remain stubbornly high, with traditional HELOC and HE loan originations still averaging over 40 days from application to funding. It’s in stark contrast to the low-teens averages of fintechs, making the yawning gap in speed an increasingly strategic differentiator.
Borrower quality remains robust. The average credit score has climbed five points year over year to 789, highlighting continued interest from prime and super-prime consumers. Average line sizes hit a new record in Q3, at $156,000, while HELOC utilization improved by 2%, and balances outstanding have risen 5% since September 2024. These are all clear signals of sustained borrower engagement. And while delinquencies have inched upward for four consecutive months, now trending at 1.30%, they remain 20 bp below the 10-year average, signaling a healthy, resilient borrower.
These dynamics suggest a market poised for disciplined growth in 2026, and one where lenders who streamline processes and embrace data-driven agility will write the next chapter in home equity lending.
