Thanks to a steep increase in up-front mortgage insurance premiums, federally insured reverse mortgage production surged last month to the highest level in nearly seven years.
Home-equity conversion mortgages endorsed by the Federal Housing Administration during January came to 6,313 units — the strongest month since 7,306 HECMs were endorsed in March 2011.
Monthly volume surged as prospective borrowers submitted more than 20,000 applications in September 2017 ahead of an increase in the initial FHA mortgage insurance premium on HECMs to 2.00 percent in October from just 0.50 percent.
The monthly endorsement data was reported by Reverse Market Insight.
FHA endorsed 4,765 HECMs in December 2017, while the total was 4,578 in January 2017.
Since its fiscal-year 2018 started on Oct. 1, 2017, FHA has endorsed 20,357 reverse mortgages.
Last month’s endorsements were generated by 229 FHA mortgagees, far more than the 192 active mortgagees a year prior.
The most-active HECM mortgagee during January 2018 was American Advisors Group, where volume climbed to 1,218 endorsements from 1,141 a month prior.
No. 2 Finance of America Reverse LLC pushed volume up to 636 in January from 435.
With 591 reverse mortgages insured, Reverse Mortgage Funding LLC lifted production from 457 in the final month of last year.
In the fourth position was Liberty Home Equity Solutions Inc., which generated 576 endorsements in January– soaring from 192 HECMs.
No. 5 Synergy One Lending Inc. was responsible for 357 HECM endorsements, a few more than 340 during December.
