Shunned after the financial crisis, home equity loans have been making a comeback in recent years, as home values have rebounded and banks have reopened the lending spigot. Total home equity loan originations reached $ 183 billion in 2015, an increase of nearly 50 percent from 2012, though originations remain far below the pre-crisis peak of $ 430 billion reached in 2006, according to trade publication Inside Mortgage Finance.
