Reverse mortgage applications increased to 8,149 units during February, up 10.2% from the previous month according to data from the Federal Housing Administration.
While application volumes may not be as high as some would like, it’s up 22.7% from the same period last year.
During February, the seasonally adjusted annual rate for total applications rose 15.6% to an estimated 1,676,800. The actual count of applications was 114,215—9.8% over January which was seriously affected by very bad weather, said the agency. Of the total number of applications, 67,990 were purchase transactions; 38,076 were refinances; and 8,149 were for reverse mortgages.
In February, lenders endorsed 6,904 HECM units with a total max claim amount of $6.904 billion, up 6.8% from January. Of all the endorsements, 6,092 were traditional reverse mortgages, and 117 were for the HECM for purchase. HECM Saver volume continued to increase, reaching 296 units during the month, an increase of 79.4%.
Overall, FHA endorsed 88,269 mortgages with a maximum claim amount of $16.8 billion in February. This included 46,899 purchase money mortgages and 34,466 refinanced transactions.
For the purchase loans, three out of every four mortgages were for first-time home buyers, according to FHA.
With respect to the refinanced mortgage transactions, 16,459 were prior FHA cases and 18,009 were conventional mortgages converting to FHA.
