Compared to a month earlier and a year earlier, government-insured reverse mortgage production was slightly weaker. The number of active lenders was also off.
Last month, there were 4,535 home-equity conversion mortgages that were endorsed by the Federal Housing Administration.
HECM volume was barely changed from February, when 4,579 loans were endorsed.
The statistics were outlined the newsletter Reverse Market Insight.
There was also little variation in HECM production compared to the same month last year, when FHA endorsed 4,640 reverse mortgages.
From Jan. 1 through March 31 of this year, FHA has endorsed a total of 13,004 HECMs.
March 2016’s HECMs were originated by 327 FHA mortgagees. The number of lenders has fallen from March 2015, when there were 339 active companies.
The biggest lender in the latest report was American Advisors Group, where production climbed to 999 units from 917 in February.
No. 2 RMS/Security One Lending saw endorsement volume fall to 351 in March from 406.
Next was Liberty Home Equity Solutions Inc., which was responsible for 338 HECM endorsements last month. Business at Liberty sank from 490 loans in February.
After that was One Reverse Mortgage LLC, where production dipped to 322 in March from 330 one month earlier.
No. 5 Finance of America Reverse LLC originated 286 of last month’s HECM business, slowing from 368 in February.
