It is well-documented in the real estate market in New Hampshire that inventory is down, and prices are up. With mortgage rates up, more current homeowners are looking to hang on to what they have and make improvements.It’s big business for Bellwether Community Credit Union.HELOCS, or home equity lines of credit, are up 30% from pre-COVID-19 and up 20% from last year at the credit union. “We’ve seen a huge explosion in home equities over the last two years,” said Nathan Saller, president and CEO of Bellwether Community Credit Union. Home equity lines are like a second mortgage, allowing you to borrow against the value of your home. Right now, it’s a hot market, as borrowers use these loans to finance home improvement projects, educational expenses or debt consolidation.“People have a lot of equity in their homes that’s available to them for new projects, expansions, decks, new kitchens — great source, very flexible,” Saller said. “The most popular is a line of credit, so you can take that out, use it, pay it down as you’d like to, and in some cases, it’s tax deductible.”The loans work like credit cards, you borrow up to a certain limit, then repay. The limit is set by the value of your home.The rates are based on a prime rate, which is currently 8.25%.Some lenders offer a fixed rate, others do not.“The rate does float, so if rates continue to go up, your minimum payments would go up. The other thing to think about, your home should not be an ATM, you don’t want to keep tapping and sucking all of the equity out of it,” Saller said. “It is a tool, and you want to use that tool responsibly.”