Select Lenders Buck Declining Reverse Mortgage Volume Trends
Home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) endorsements declined -3.1% in April to 4,497 loans from March, but several lenders stood out with strong results in April.
Reverse Mortgage Funding jumped 82.4% “to their highest total in their history and continuing to close the gap in run rates with the top five lenders,” says Reverse Market Insight in its latest report.
In addition, Reverse Mortgage Solutions/Security 1 Lending grew 16.9%, following two slower months and Live Well Financial rose 15.8% to their highest total in recent history, RMI data show.
Seven of 10 regions showed a decline in performance in April, with an eighth (Great Plains) going sideways. The two regions that boasted increased performance are the Southwest and New England.
New England grew 21.4% in April compared to the prior month, data show. The Southwest grew 5.9%, following a big drop in March.
However, one gains a different perspective when looking at the numbers on a long-term basis, notes RMI President John K. Lunde.
New England is down by 27.5% on a year-to-date basis, while the Pacific/Hawaii, Southeast/Caribbean and Southwest are all up year-to-date, with Pacific/Hawaii leading the way at 7.4% growth, he says.
“There are a handful of field offices with volume up 30% or more year-to-date and all of them are in Pacific/Hawaii except one (Orlando in Southeast/Caribbean),” he says, adding that the other three are Reno, Las Vegas, and Fresno. “That owes a lot to home price increases in each of these areas and likely also is playing into the refinance trendwe’ve seen playing out in the past several months of endorsements.”
View the RMI report here.
