The number of reverse mortgage applications rose 0.6% in December, coming in at 8,270 units according to the Federal Housing Administration.

Application volume remains consistent for fiscal year 2011, but is up 19.4% compared to December 2009.

During the month, there was 6,554 reverse mortgages endorsed with a max claim of $1.7 billion, down 0.1% from November.  Overall endorsement characteristics stayed relatively flat except for the adjustable rate HECMs which increased 11.9% for the traditional product, 40% for the HECM for purchase, and the number of refis for ARMs increased 34.9%.

But the most interesting news comes in the form of HECM Saver endorsements, which came in at 75 units during December.  It’s the first time FHA has broken out the data and it’s more than the 19 HECM Saver endorsements from November.  While the numbers are nothing huge, the product was released in October, so the number of units endorsed —which are typically a few months behind from the closing date — out of the gate was expected to be small.

In total, FHA endorsed 133,603 mortgages in December, which included 66,165 purchase money mortgages, of which 48,539 were for first time home buyers.  December ended with 598,140 mortgages in serious default, yielding a default rate of 8.8 percent according to FHA.

So far this fiscal year, FHA has paid 87,827 claims, 58,032 were loss mitigation retention transactions, 24,004 conveyance cases and the rest were miscellaneous other type claims.

To view a copy of the report, see here.