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Article: Home Equity Loans Cutting Installment Debt, Data Show
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- March 11, 1987
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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The year's first data from the Federal Reserve on consumer
installment credit confirm what many have suspected: Americans are
using the equity in their homes to consolidate debts at lower
interest rates and finance purchases with largely tax-deductible
credit.
Although consumer credit rose slightly during January, revolving
credit-overdrafts, bank and retail charge cards-fell by $366 million,
a 3.3 percent drop on an annual basis. Other types of personal bank
loans fell by 1.7 percent in the same month. Automobile loans
increased enough to account for the overall rise, but the pace was
only half that of December's $2 billion.
The Fed noted that "credit, other than for automobiles, ...