Vickie Lasher, Branch Manager, American Financial Network

Can you tell us the home equity products you are currently originating or investing in? Currently I’m originating home equity lines of credit and heloans (30 year fixed).

What do you think are the major issues that can upend the home equity market? The probability of foreclosures coming down the line which could see values in some areas dip.

What kind of regulations need to be passed to improve home equity market protections for the consumer and investment certainty for originators and investors? Caps on interest rates.  The current margins on most products are excessive.

Lots of new mortgage products have been gaining acceptance lately: HEI, DSCR, RTL… What’s next? Seems we are headed back into a stated income lending scenario. Some sort of cross bred between DSCR and owner occupancy.

What was your most recent home equity market surprise? I can’t currently think of one.

How much will the home equity markets grow in 2025? 3 to 5% would be an estimate in markets that don’t see a decline due to foreclosures.

Vacation, concert, show, ball game… Any fun summer plans coming up? Couple vacations – one next week to Florida and one in September to the California coast.

 

Domonic Savino, Head of Financial Products, Better

Can you tell us the home equity products you are currently originating or investing in?
BETTER OFFERS HELOC, CLOSED SECOND LOANS AND CASH OUT REFI MORTGAGES

What do you think are the major issues that can upend the home equity market?
IN A STATIC RATE ENVIORNMENT DISPARITY BETWEEN NEW HOME VS EXISTING HOME PRICE AS WELL AS SUSTAINED NOMINAL HOME PRICE DECLINES WILL CREATE AN ISSUE. OBVIOUSLY A SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER FIRST LIEN RATE WILL ACCELRATE CASH OUT REFI VS 2ND LIEN HOME EQUITY EXTRACTION.

What kind of regulations need to be passed to improve home equity market protections for the consumer and investment certainty for originators and investors?
THE MARKET IS EXTREMELY WELL REGULATED AND APPEARS VERY BALANCED BETWEEN ORIGINATION CAPACITY, BORROWER PROTECTION AND INVESTOR TRANSPARENCY.

Lots of new mortgage products have been gaining acceptance lately: HEI, DSCR, RTL… What’s next?
GREAT QUESTION, INNOVATION IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF THE CAPITAL MARKETS. EFFICENT BALANCED RISK TRANSFER, PRIMARILY FACILITED BY THE INVESMENT BANKING COMMUNITY, WILL DICATATE WHATS ON THE NEAR AND LONG TERM HORIZEN  

What was your most recent home equity market surprise?

I WOULD SAY THE RELATIVE STRENGTH OF SECURITIZATION WITH IO  FEATURES LIKE Vista Point 2024-CES1

How much will the home equity markets grow in 2025?

COULD GROW 3X DEPENDING ON A FEW KEY FACTORS PRIMARILY; NOMINAL 1ST LIEN MORTGAGE RATES, CONSUMER CREDIT DELIQUENCY AND CREDIT SPREADS AND CAPITAL RESERVE REQUIREMENTS (FOR HELOC) 

 

 

Jeboah Joerg, CIO, EasyKnock

Can you tell us the home equity products you are currently originating or investing in?

HEI/HEA, Sale-Leaseback

What do you think are the major issues that can upend the home equity market? 

If liquidity were to dry up in the securitization markets,  Reclassification for products such as HEI/HEA (as a loan), economic downturn without a sympathetic move lower in rates

What kind of regulations need to be passed to improve home equity market protections for the consumer and investment certainty for originators and investors? 

Regulations directed toward disclosure, product education, asset classification 

Lots of new mortgage products have been gaining acceptance lately: HEI, DSCR, RTL… What’s next?

Financing to serve the next generation of homebuyers.  We need alternatives to Mortgage insurance

What was your most recent home equity market surprise?

None in recent memory

How much will the home equity markets grow in 2025?

Not sure what we are measuring here.  If we are referring to the ~30tn number often quoted I doubt it will grow much.  If we are talking about products that allow consumers to access that equity then the answer would be very different.  

 

David Shapiro, CEO & Founder, EquiFi

1. Can you tell us the home equity products you are currently originating or investing in? We have originated our HEI contract and are close to restarting with new capital. By the time of the conference, we will be announcing a new product for equity access and the introduction of our product for home purchase.

2. What do you think are the major issues that can upend the home equity market? We have regulators as part of our ecosystem. Our concern is that competitors have different views on how to work with regulators. They try to bully them instead of working with them. Also concerned about investors not reacting to SOFR as rates to go down to further capitalize on IRRs.

3. What kind of regulations need to be passed to improve home equity market protections for the consumer and investment certainty for originators and investors? That’s happening and by the time of conference there should be more clarity.

4. Lots of new mortgage products have been gaining acceptance lately: HEI, DSCR, RTL… What’s next? We have worked for two years on our new product and interest from mortgage companies has been exceptional.

5. What was your most recent home equity market surprise? Copycats of our new product visa vi leaks.

6. How much will the home equity markets grow in 2025? Exponentially regardless of interest rates.

7. Vacation, concert, show, ball game… Any fun summer plans coming up? Ha…a good night’s sleep.

 

Nick Shah, CEO, Home LLC 

1. Can you tell us the home equity products you are currently originating or investing in?

HEI for 5-30 years. 

2. What do you think are the major issues that can upend the home equity market?

Re-characterization risk by state governments including historical look back of HEIs originated.

3. What kind of regulations need to be passed to improve home equity market protections for the consumer and investment certainty for originators and investors?

CFPB to work with congress to decide.

4. Lots of new mortgage products have been gaining acceptance lately: HEI, DSCR, RTL… What’s next?

Whatever customers and investors align on.

5. What was your most recent home equity market surprise?

None.

6. How much will the home equity markets grow in 2025?

Not sure about TAM.

7. Vacation, concert, show, ball game… Any fun summer plans coming up?

Summer with kid and dog.

 

Hometap

1. Can you tell us the home equity products you are currently originating or investing in?

At Hometap, we are proud to offer an innovative home equity investment product that addresses the common issue of being house-rich but cash-poor. Traditionally, homeowners had two primary options to access their home equity: selling their home or taking out a loan. Hometap provides a third alternative, allowing homeowners to unlock the value in their homes without incurring debt or selling.

We offer homeowners near-immediate access to debt-free cash in exchange for a percentage of their home’s future value. This investment can be used for a variety of purposes, such as paying off credit card debt, starting a business, buying a second home, or funding education. The investment term lasts up to 10 years, and at the end of the term, or when the homeowner chooses to settle within this period, Hometap is paid an agreed-upon percentage of the final home value, reflecting the risk we take on without requiring monthly payments.

For investors, Hometap offers an efficient opportunity to gain exposure to residential home equity, a traditionally difficult asset class to access without purchasing homes directly. Our long-term capital strategy includes expanding these opportunities, both in terms of serving more homeowners, while also delivering quality real estate portfolio investments for our capital partners.

5. What was your most recent home equity market surprise?

Less surprised and more excited, we've been thrilled by the growing interest from investors in the HEI asset class. We witnessed firsthand this growing interest as we closed our debut securitization deal, HTAP 2024-1, totaling $217 million in home equity investments in June 2024. The transaction was significantly oversubscribed, attracting support from the most unique investors of any HEI securitization to date, including six entirely new to the HEI asset class.

The broad base of participation demonstrated the growing institutional interest in HEIs and the strength of Hometap’s brand among investors. This securitization expands the level of investor participation in this asset class, enabling us to source additional capital and provide even greater support to U.S. homeowners, marking another pivotal step in transforming the home equity investment landscape.

6. How much will the home equity markets grow in 2025?

The home equity markets are poised for substantial growth in 2025. Since Morningstar DBRS published their rating methodology for HEIs in 2022, we've seen significant expansion in the capital markets and the category of investors who want to participate in the HEI asset class. This development has provided a solid foundation for the asset class to thrive.

Moreover, homeowner demand for accessing home equity has remained robust across diverse rate environments, ensuring a steady volume that supports the scaling of HEIs. With the increasing investor appetite for the attractive risk-adjusted returns and the distinctive nature of this asset class, we foresee the home equity market maintaining its upward momentum. As interest from both investors and homeowners continues to align, the home equity sector is poised for significant growth in the upcoming year.

 

Shannon Santos, Executive Vice President- Data Solution, Informative Research

Can you tell us the home equity products you are currently originating or investing in?

Informative Research delivers data-driven solutions to all home equity lending and home equity investment verticals. We offer credit, capacity, verification and collateral related solutions, as well as customer acquisition, risk and retention services through our various technology platforms.  

What do you think are the major issues that can upend the home equity market?

Economic slumps, higher interest rates, falling home prices, and new regulations can all shake up the home equity market. When the economy's not doing well, people might lose their jobs or earn less, which can lead to more defaults and lower property values, eating away at home equity. Higher interest rates make borrowing more expensive and can put pressure on homeowners with adjustable-rate loans. If home prices drop, it can further reduce available equity and even push some people into negative equity. Plus, changes in regulations and lending rules can make it harder to get home equity loans by either tightening up the requirements or allowing riskier lending practices.

What kind of regulations need to be passed to improve home equity market protections for the consumer and investment certainty for originators and investors?

I’d like to see changes made to make it easier for people to tap into their home equity.  Simplify the process and remove unnecessary hurdles. This could include streamlining the application process, reducing fees, and making it easier to understand the terms and conditions. It'd also help to have more flexible options for accessing equity, like allowing smaller loans or offering more repayment choices. The idea is to cut through the red tape so that homeowners can access their equity more easily and without a lot of hassle.

Lots of new mortgage products have been gaining acceptance lately: HEI, DSCR, RTL… What’s next?

As I noted earlier, I'd appreciate more flexible options for accessing equity, such as the ability to take out smaller loans or having a wider range of repayment options available.

What was your most recent home equity market surprise?

Not necessarily a surprise, but I believe home equity markets are a bright spot for the entire mortgage and housing ecosystem. Rising inflation, unsecured consumer debt, and rising interest rates make for a bleak outlook for traditional cash out refinance and from my vantage point home equity markets are having a banner year! I think this is the highest we have seen since 2015 or even before...

How much will the home equity markets grow in 2025?

The home equity markets might continue to grow in 2025, possibly following the trends we've seen recently. Of course, this all depends on a lot of factors such as the economy, interest rates, and housing market conditions.

Vacation, concert, show, ball game… Any fun summer plans coming up?

This summer, my husband and I took our four children (ages 8 to 2) on an amazing trip to Croatia and Italy! Later in the season, I'll be heading to Wisconsin for a lake trip and then to Kentucky for a horse show.

 

Will Graboyes, Vice President Securitized Markets Group – Capital Markets, Jefferies LLC

Can you tell us the home equity products you are currently originating or investing in?
Jefferies is currently very active in the home equity sector. We have been financing and securitizing the fixed rate/fully amortizing HELOC (Figure and Achieve) the longest, have a track record financing and securitizing multiple prominent HEI originators, and are actively looking at closed end second lien mortgages, piggyback seconds, and traditional bank HELOCs. We are also very active in Home Improvement and have looked at various other mortgage products – RTL/fix and flip, new construction, resi solar, etc.

What do you think are the major issues that can upend the home equity market?

In terms of focal points from investors, the HEI topics we hear most frequently are regulatory and prepayment speeds. It seems like the market is currently at a level of comfort with both – however, it will be important to monitor any changes to investor sentiment in those areas.

What kind of regulations need to be passed to improve home equity market protections for the consumer and investment certainty for originators and investors?

• Lots of new mortgage products have been gaining acceptance lately: HEI, DSCR, RTL… What’s next?
• What was your most recent home equity market surprise?
• How much will the home equity markets grow in 2025?

I do not have a refined view on the growth of the home equity market in 2025 or the necessary regulations to improve protections. Will let the origination experts answer those!

Vacation, concert, show, ball game… Any fun summer plans coming up?

As far as summer plans, not much beyond the usual week at the beach. Very much looking forward to this conference!

 

Khalil Kanaan, Head of Residential Mortgage, LibreMax

Can you tell us the home equity products you are currently originating or investing in?

We invest in all HEI, DSCR and RTL. We have the capacity in investing directly in loans and contracts as well as securities. We have been an active participant in many securitizations  OK

What do you think are the major issues that can upend the home equity market?

DSCR : Becoming a mainstream product with wide acceptance from both borrowers and investors. Although rental income does not produce an accretive return to the equity investor in many properties, loan performance to date has been resilient.

RTL :  A proliferation of loan originators over the last few years. Delinquencies on some securitization shelfs seem to have been deteriorating. It will be interesting to observe the ultimate loss percentages on these pools and the market reaction. There might just be differentiating factors among originators. The RTL market has been growing by taking market share from regional community lenders which is a healthy migration as long as originators do not feel inclined to support excessive developers’ speculation

HEI : From an investor perspective, HEI is somewhat analogous to an investment in 2nd liens or HELOC. HEI is usually structured with no coupon and has more upside and downside return potential versus 2nd liens. One major difference, from an investor’s perspective, are the potentially higher fees charged by HEI originators compared to 2nd lien originators, rendering lower return and lesser alignment of interest on a relative basis.

What kind of regulations need to be passed to improve home equity market protections for the consumer and investment certainty for originators and investors?

I do not have strong views on potential regulations.

What was your most recent home equity market surprise?

With respect to DSCR : As highlighted above, origination volume seems quite healthy given that the mortgage interest rate on the loans is quite higher than rental income for much of the product. The incentive to the investor is quite less attractive from a historical perspective

How much will the home equity markets grow in 2025?

All three products seem to be gaining more and more momentum. A positive HPA environment has been very supportive and providing a strong tail wind even against rising interest rates. Would this momentum continue forever?

2025 volume is still expected to be healthy since these products are either taking market share from regional banks or extracting Home Equity value for homeowners who have locked up low rate first lien mortgage prior to 2022.    But the proliferation of many origination platforms raises the question if they will all be profitable over time. I expect some consolidation over the medium to longer term

 

Peter Mazonas, CEO, NatEquity, Inc

1. Can you tell us the home equity products you are currently originating or investing in?

NatEquity will originate, securitize and service proprietary jumbo shared appreciation reverse mortgages.

2. What do you think are the major issues that can upend the home equity market?

War with China

3. What kind of regulations need to be passed to improve home equity market protections for the consumer and investment certainty for originators and investors?

• Three issues affecting originators and investors:
• SEC Rule 2a-5 (2020), enforcing GAAP ASC§820 became effective in 2024 requiring real estate and mortgage assets and liabilities be valued at the Net Present Value (NPV) of “predictable” future portfolio cash flows. The consistency of methodology and the

 

Jack Macdowell, Managing Member & Chief Investment Officer, Palisades Group

1. Can you tell us the home equity products you are currently originating or investing in?

HEIs

2. What do you think are the major issues that can upend the home equity market?

Recessionary levels of unemployment, defaults, and housing deflation (unlikely)

Government intervention

3. What kind of regulations need to be passed to improve home equity market protections for the consumer and investment certainty for originators and investors?

Confirmation as to where HEI’s fall into regulatory landscape (are they mortgage loans, are they equity investments)

4. Lots of new mortgage products have been gaining acceptance lately: HEI, DSCR, RTL… What’s next?

HEI + closed end second wrapped into a single product

5. What was your most recent home equity market surprise?

When HEIs became rated.

6. How much will the home equity markets grow in 2025?

Significantly due to the demand for NQM from insurance companies.

7. Vacation, concert, show, ball game… Any fun summer plans coming up?

Lots of work.

 

Danny Kattan, Managing Director, PIA Residential

Can you tell us about the home equity products you are currently originating or investing in?

We are focused on Residential Leasebacks, an untapped market with huge potential. Not everyone qualifies for a traditional equity financial product, and sometimes the alternative is to sell the house. What if they want to stay and live as a tenant? Residential Leasebacks provide that option.

What do you think are the major issues that can upend the home equity market?

Currently, the market is unregulated, but regulation is on the horizon. This will impact many existing models. It’s crucial to establish working groups to create guidelines that will help the government feel comfortable with these products. The challenge is that regulation will need to be implemented on a state-by-state basis.

What kind of regulations need to be passed to improve home equity market protections for the consumer and investment certainty for originators and investors?

We need common-sense regulations. The reality is that home equity products are often the last resource for a homeowner before they have to sell or go into foreclosure. It's important to strike a balance between creating a market and protecting all consumers.

Lots of new mortgage products have been gaining acceptance lately: HEI, DSCR, RTL… What’s next?

I believe the next step is for the government to allow mortgages to be assumable or "transportable" to the next property.

What was your most recent home equity market surprise?

The speed at which IMN created a conference for this 🙂

How much will the home equity markets grow in 2025?

The market can easily double as consumers become more familiar with these products. This is just the beginning.

Vacation, concert, show, ball game… Any fun summer plans coming up?

I just finished driving through the Northeast with my wife and daughters.

 

Sean Kelly, Partner, Winston & Strawn

Can you tell us the home equity products you are currently originating or investing in? 

I AM AN ATTORNEY REPRESENTING BANKS AND INVESTORS FOR HEIS

What do you think are the major issues that can upend the home equity market? 

STATE REGULATION

What kind of regulations need to be passed to improve home equity market protections for the consumer and investment certainty for originators and investors? 

SOME STATES COUNT THESE AS MORTGAGES, OTHERS DO NOT, NEED CLEAR UNDERSTANDING ON WHAT IS THE PRODUCT

Lots of new mortgage products have been gaining acceptance lately: HEI, DSCR, RTL… What’s next? 

DON’T KNOW – THAT MAY DEPEND ON INTEREST RATES, REGULATIONS, ETC

What was your most recent home equity market surprise?  

GENERAL GROWTH OF INTEREST/INDUSTRY

How much will the home equity markets grow in 2025?

UNKNOWN BUT INTEREST RATES WILL PLAY A MAJOR ALONG WITH GOVT RESPONSES

Vacation, concert, show, ball game… Any fun summer plans coming up?

BALL GAME AT WRIGLEY IN EARLY SEPT

 

Register for the HEI and Home Equity Capital Markets Forum here: https://events.imn.org/homeequity