The biggest originator of government-insured reverse mortgages expanded production, while the sector as a whole lost ground from the previous month.
Home-equity conversion mortgages endorsed by the Federal Housing Administration in August numbered 5,382.
HECM volume at FHA mortgagees slowed from July, when endorsements totaled 5,766.
But business was better than August 2012, when FHA endorsed 4,122 HECMs.
The data, reported by Reverse Market Insight, indicate that reverse lenders closed 43,494 during the first eight months this year.
American Advisors Group retained its No. 1 standing for the second consecutive month, closing 925 HECMs. The company moved its production up from 914 endorsements in July.
The second-biggest HECM originator was Liberty Home Equity Solutions Inc., where 658 units funded. Activity wasn’t much different from a month earlier, when 645 endorsements were secured. Liberty is owned by Ocwen Financial Corp.
Walter Investment Management Corp.-subsidiary Security One Lending/Reverse Mortgage Solutions came in third place with 570 loans, off from 592 in the previous report.
The next spot was taken by One Reverse Mortgage LLC. The Quicken Loans Inc.-subsidiary lifted HECM production to 465 units in August from 429 in July.
No. 5 was Urban Financial Group, which lost ground with 277 endorsements versus the prior month’s 389.
The latest report indicated that 519 HECM originators were active, the same number as a year earlier.
