As I was reading Jessica’s piece on the recent industry acquisitions, a question popped up in my mind: Were these last round of acquisitions a continuation of the reverse mortgage musical chairs that we have witnessed in the past 10 years?

I don’t think so. Considering home values today, the size and stature of current industry players, the next round of product enhancement coming from the FHA later this year, and

the industry’s status in relation to the reset of the credit markets, I believe we are going to see a new normal in terms of industry participant stability. In other words: I don’t think the top six players in our space will be exiting the business within the next five years.

What has changed in recent years? A lot. Financial markets imploded and have been recovering, albeit slowly. We have seen two rounds of PLF reductions, an MIP increase and the Standard fixed pulled off the proverbial shelf. Most significantly, we are finally tackling the T&I delinquency monster, governing utilization and further improving the risk to the MMI Fund.

The simple fact is that we are still standing and seniors still need our product, arguably more now than ever. Borrowers will benefit from the presence of long-term, stable industry participants, and as the product evolves, we will be able to provide our customers with an even more robust version of the HECM in years to come.