Bill Fleckenstein wrote recently about the challenges facing banks with their HELOC portfolios.  HELOCs, otherwise know as home equity lines of credit, have been a very popular way for people to get the financing they need to purchase homes.  If this segment of the market starts to deteriorate rapidly, it will be yet another very challenging hurdle for us to work through to get this housing market back on proper footing.

Calculated Risk has more on the HELOC issue.