Reverse mortgage endorsements fell 3.4% in May to 4,439 loans, with lender competition facing a 5.6% decline. For retail and third-party originator volume, the Top-10 for lenders shuffled once again, with One Reverse Mortgage, Urban Financial Group and Genworth Financial Home Equity Access rising to the top as Wells Fargo and MetLife numbers begin to make their way off the books, according to the latest data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Reverse Market Insight.
The monthly volume, which RMI says is “flirting with the multiyear lows we saw in March,” could see lower volume still in 2012 as MetLife’s exit from the business continues to pull volume down a bit, RMI predicts.
Source: Reverse Market Insight
Lenders now in the Top 10, however, don’t seem to be going anywhere. Generation Mortgage, Security One Lending, First National Bank of Layton and Reverse Mortgage USA all saw volume grow month-over-month in May, with the Top-10 for volume in 2012 to date comprising One Reverse, Genworth, Urban Financial, Security One and Generation in the top five and AAG, First National Bank of Layton, Sun West, Reverse Mortgage USA and New Day Financial rounding out the remainder of the list (again, excluding MetLife).
Many wholesalers are also seeing a growth opportunity with new entrants into the market as well as growth in channels launched in 2011.
View the RMI report for reverse mortgage volume by lender.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
