As reverse mortgage endorsements continue to slump behind last year’s volume levels, an eerie trending pattern suggests the industry may have suffered a time lapse back to 2012, according to the latest data from Reverse Market Insight.
Despite August 2014 volume (3,256) clocking in roughly 21% lower than it did in 2012 (4,122) on a monthly basis, year-to-date progress in the first seven months of both years bears likeness.
Year-to-date, Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) volume through July this year is closer to what it was in 2012 than in 2013. In 2012, volume from January through July tallied 33,001. This year, that figure is slightly smaller at 31,739, while in 2013, HECM volume during this timeframe stood at 37,945 loans.
“Given that Agust 2014 volume checked in well south of August 2012, that pattern is likely to take a little bit of a hit, but right now it seems fairly likely that the rest of the year could hover around the 4,000 loans per month mark to make the final tally very close,” writes RMI.
On a regional basis, RMI spotlighted the sizable reverse mortgage volume growth Arizona has been experiencing lately, echoing a past report from last month detailing the state’s 32.2% volume increase in the first half of the year through June.
Now, through July, The Grand Canyon State has reported an 18.5% year-to-date, however, there is more to the growth than the state having the largest county, city and zip code volume increases.
Maricopa County—the most populous county in the state—comprises 60.5% of year-to-date volume in Arizona, RMI notes. Of that total proportion, Phoenix commands just 24.6%.
View the RMI report.
Written by Jason Oliva
