As expected, reverse mortgage industry volume finished 2016 under 50,000 total units. Despite clocking in at the lowest calendar year for volume in more than a decade, the last month of 2016 provided a year-end momentum boost the industry will look to carry into 2017.
Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsements totaled 4,658 loans in December, bringing full-year volume to 48,794 units, according to the latest industry data tracked by Reverse Market Insight (RMI). December volume, which represents a 19.7% increase from the previous month, is the highest single-month endorsement total in all of 2016.
Volume increases among nine of the top-10 regions tracked by RMI supported the nearly 20% gain in December. New York/New Jersey was the only region to report a decline, with volume falling 14.7% during the month.
The largest monthly gains belonged to the Rocky Mountain regions, which posted a 58.4% increase with 369 loans in December; the Southwest, whose 538 loans represent a 35.9% gain; and the Northwest/Alaska with 275 loans, an increase of 35.5% from November.
(Source: Reverse Market Insight – Click image to enlarge)
December was also supported by near-unanimous volume increases among the top-10 reverse mortgage industry lenders, of which eight reported higher volumes during the month to finish the year.
Reverse Mortgage Funding saw the largest single-month increase, jumping from 195 loans in November to 469 loans in December. The month culminated a year that also saw RMF become the leading issuer of Ginnie Mae HECM mortgage-backed securities. For calendar year 2016, RMF totaled 3,274 HECM endorsements, according to the RMI data.
Reverse Mortgage Solutions/Security One Lending and HighTechLending Inc. also had productive finishes to 2016, each reporting 165 and 116 loans during December, representing monthly increases of 63% and 37%, respectively.
American Advisors Group continued to lead the way among all lenders by volume for both the single month of December as well as the entire calendar year, with 1,014 loans during the month and 10,717 endorsements in 2016, a 21% decrease from calendar year 2015.
In 2016, the top-10 industry lenders accounted for 66% of total HECM endorsement volume, according to RMI data.
View the latest RMI data here.
Written by Jason Oliva
