Housing, real estate and mortgage lending problems may be this year’s Christmas Grinch. Many consumers accustomed to funding life’s little extras by borrowing against their home’s value may find that with excess equity exhausted, Christmas buying will be slim.

With mortgage delinquencies at record highs and mortgage-equity withdrawals well off the peak hit in the second half of 2006, the housing mess has begun to exact collateral damage on the larger consumer economy. It is one of the main reasons that holiday sales are expected to be the weakest since the recession in the early part of the decade.

In addition to the common second mortgage, or home-equity loan, a popular method has been to refinance with a larger mortgage reflecting a home’s greater market value. Borrowers then paid off their original, smaller mortgage and pocketed the remaining cash—called “cash-out refinancing.” While interest on the new loan was usually less, monthly payments increased.

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Real estate agent Caesar Parisi stands ready with effective advice on buying or selling Boca Raton FL condos.

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