Despite a monthly decline in government-insured reverse mortgages originated by retail lenders, wholesale lending activity was higher.
The biggest reverse mortgage lender, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., closed 1,841 home-equity conversion mortgages during January, according to data reported by Reverse Market Insight. Business trailed off from 1,972 loans funded in December.
Volume slipped at No. 2 Bank of America, N.A., to 1,288 loans from December’s 1,314. At the third biggest HECM lender, MetLife Bank, originations were 999, worse than the previous month’s 1,345.
But business was better at Urban Financial Group, where volume climbed to 422 loans from 267, and Generation Mortgage Co., which closed 397 reverse mortgages versus 354 a month prior.
Retail fundings from all HECM lenders amounted to 4,049 loans in January, falling from 4,343 in December and 3,171 closings in January 2010.
Based on just wholesale activity, volume climbed to 2,413 HECMs from December’s 2,207 loans but was down by nearly half from 4,450 wholesale HECMs reported for January of last year.
As was the case in December, MetLife closed more HECMs than any other wholesale lender:Â 533 loans.
No. 2 BofA funded 445 wholesale units, followed by Genworth’s 359, Urban’s 357 and Generation’s 275.
