Research Report Seniors’ Access to Home Equity
Subtitle
Identifying Existing Mechanisms and Impediments to Broader Adoption
Karan Kaul, Laurie Goodman
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Senior citizens are sitting on a mountain of housing wealth. And even though nearly 37 percent are concerned about their finances in retirement, only 6 percent are willing to tap into their home equity. This paper looks at the reasons older homeowners are so reluctant to draw on housing wealth and finds that many simply want to avoid debt while others face structural impediments to borrowing against home equity. The authors offer several recommendations for easing these structural impediments.

Research Areas Wealth and financial well-being Housing finance
Tags Asset and debts Single-family finance Finance
Policy Centers Housing Finance Policy Center