According to Bloomberg, citing data company Black Knight, US homeowners withdrew $63 billion in equity from their real estate holdings via more than 1.1 million cash-out refinances in the second quarter of the year - the largest quarterly drawdown since mid-2007. Around 20% of American homeowners said they've pulled money out of real estate investments in the last year, according to a late-October pull by Harris. Another 18% said they're considering it.

The trend isn't confined to the US either, as UK homeowners extracted 13 billion pounds (US$18 billion) in the first half of the year - the first time since 2008 that Britons took out excess equity vs. putting money into their homes, according to data from the Bank of England.

According to Harris Poll's survey, the #1 reason for tapping into home equity is to fund home improvement projects, followed by investment opportunities and paying down debts. Combined with ultra-low interest rates, tapping into home equity has become all the rage, again.