Home equity lines of credit and junior liens at U.S. banks and thrifts in the second quarter declined 1.8% from the linked quarter and 7.8% from the 2018 period to $402.23 billion.
Overall credit quality continued to improve during the second quarter: The percentage of home equity lines of credit that were delinquent or in nonaccrual status fell to 2.6% as of June 30, compared to 2.8% at the end of March and 3.0% a year earlier. Meanwhile, the delinquency rate for closed-end junior liens was 3.3% as of June 30, down from 3.5% in the previous quarter and 4.0% a year earlier.

Home equity lines of credit peaked at $894.27 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008 and have been declining ever since.
U.S. banks and thrifts have been reducing interest rates on home equity products following the Federal Reserve's 25-basis-point rate cut in July. On Sept. 19, the Federal Open Market Committee cut the federal funds rate target by another 25 basis points.

Bank of America Corp. led the industry with $44.40 billion in home equity loans and lines of credit as of June 30, although this was a $2.04 billion drop quarter over quarter and an $8.94 billion drop year over year.
Among the 20 largest U.S. bank home equity lenders, only Zions Bancorp NA and First Republic Bank reported quarter-over-quarter increases in home equity loan balances in the second quarter.

