Reverse mortgage volume, despite falling to a historic low level in September, continues to be a growth story for some lenders, writes Reverse Market Insight in a report Thursday.
Several lenders including Proficio Mortgage, Associated Mortgage Bankers and Nationwide Equities are making strong plays at market share, having grown origination efforts aggressively in light of low average volume across the nation, which fell 10.6% from August to September.
Wholesale and Retail each dropped by similar measures for the month, posting declines of 9.9% and 11.1%, respectively, RMI reports.
But where the market has been slowed by assortment of lender exits over the past 18 months, the opportunity for growth has arisen for lenders looking to pick up the pieces.
Among the companies capitalizing on lender exits, New York-based Associated Mortgage Bankers, Inc. has displayed strong growth throughout the year with a 214% increase year-to-date. The company’s 12% growth for Sept. might have been less than past month postings, but it was enough to earn the No. 8 spot in RMI’s September top-10 HECM originators list with 56 loans during the month.
Orlando-based Proficio Mortgage Ventures, LLC also joined RMI’s top-10 rankings at the No. 9 spot despite only recording 1 unit in August before closing out September with a total of 53. Proficio, which expanded its reverse mortgage business after FNB Layton bowed out, hired 100 former Layton originators and began funding its own loans in August.
RMI also noted the growth of Nationwide Equities, out of Mahwah, New Jersey, which has grown its retail channel more than 60% year to date, and in September alone.
September’s top-five retailers included American Advisors Group, One Reverse Mortgage, Genworth, Security One and Reverse Mortgage USA, respectively.
On a national basis, however, September marks the lowest totals of the year with 3,683 reported endorsements, less than July’s previous-low figures.
Written by Jason Oliva
