A bigger month-over-month increase in volume was recorded for proprietary reverse mortgages than government-insured activity. Wholesale rose more than retail.
Out of the 4,378 home-equity conversion mortgages endorsed by the Federal Housing Administration in August, retail originators were responsible for 2,440 units.
Retail HECM production ascended by a fifth compared to a month earlier. But business from the retail channel retreated 17 percent versus the same month a year earlier.
Those details were provided in the Reverse Market Insight newsletter.
From Jan. 1 through Aug. 31 of this year, retail HECM endorsements came to
18,675.
Endorsements generated through the wholesale channel climbed 30 percent on a month-over-month basis, leaving wholesale HECM endorsements at 1,938 in August.
But wholesale volume was down 31 percent from August 2015.
Wholesale production amounted to
13,867 endorsements during the first-nine months of 2016.
Proprietary reverse mortgages originated increased 43 percent between July and August at the mortgage companies surveyed by RMI — far better than the 24 percent month-over-month percentage gain for HECMs.
Proprietary production was off by a quarter from the same month in 2015, not much different than the 24 percent year-over-year decline for HECMs.
Finance of America Reverse LLC maintained its status as the top originator of proprietary reverse mortgages, with originations increasing to 335 loans in August from the previous month’s 245.
No. 2 Reverse Mortgage Funding LLC saw business surge to 236 reverse mortgages from just 98 in July.
Next was American Advisors Group, where proprietary production rose to 80 units in the most-recent month from 57.
Liberty Home Equity Solutions Inc. closed 76 loans, fewer than 90 in July.
In the fifth spot was Live Well Financial Inc., where proprietary volume rose to 19 in August from 15.