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Huntington Bank has noticed an increase in home equity lending in the past two quarters.
"It really started about six months ago that we started getting more inquiries. We think some of that is a natural response to a stabilization of property values," said Jay Plum, executive vice president of consumer and mortgage lending for Huntington Bank.
In West Virginia, homeowners in Morgantown and Charleston in particular are seeing property appreciate, so they're tapping their equity, Plum said. Customers are using equity loans to consolidate debt or to finance home improvement projects.
"We definitely like to have customers investing in their homes again," he said. "For a while, customers were shy about doing that."
Borrowing on home equity can take one of two forms: a loan or a line of credit. Plum said instances of both are on the rise.
"We are seeing slightly more of...