Reverse mortgage volume under the Federal Housing Administration’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program has fallen year-over-year with a slight decline in the first quarter from the fourth quarter of 2012.
In its quarterly report to Congress, the Department of Housing and Urban Development charted the course of reverse mortgages versus forward mortgages, showing forward loans are climbing in volume while reverse mortgage volume is still lagging.
During the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2013, FHA endorsed for 353,125 forward loans and 12,079 reverse mortgages (HECM). Forward-loan endorsements rose about 6% during the quarter, while reverse mortgage volume declined from the previous quarter by about 4%.
On a year-over-year basis, however, forward endorsements are up almost 40% while reverse loans have fallen in endorsement volume by one percentage point.
The increase in forward-loan activity was all due to refinance actions, with little change in home-purchase loan endorsements, HUD reported.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
