Home-equity conversion mortgage production jumped 13 percent last month and has been up each of the past three months. At the biggest retail reverse mortgage lender, volume soared more than a third.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported last week that HECM originations climbed to 5,901 loans for a maximum claim amount of $1.5 billion in July from 5,304 loans endorsed for $1.3 billion during June.
It was the second month in a row of gains.
Now, HECM lenders have pushed to three the number of consecutive monthly gains.
In the Reverse Market Insight newsletter, reverse mortgage production was reported at 6,645 units during August.
Despite the month-over-month gain, HECMÂ volume has tumbled since Aug. 2009 — when 8,933 loans were closed for a maximum claim amount of $2.7 billion. Over the same period, the number of active reverse mortgage lenders has declined from 2,783 a year ago to 2,001 this year.
HECMÂ production from Jan. 1 to Aug. 31 was 48,390 loans.
On a retail-only basis, the biggest lender — Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. — pushed business to 1,880 reverse mortgages from 1,383 in July.
No. 2 Bank of America, N.A., saw retail volume increase to 677 HECMs loans last month from 562.
MetLife Bank followed with 397 retail originations in August, then One Reverse Mortgage LLC’s 299 and Genworth Financial Home Equity’s 170 loans.
