If April showers bring May flowers, then reverse mortgage volume sank deep into last month’s mud.
Endorsements for Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) continued their downward push in April, continuing the decline from 2015’s volume during the first four months of the year, according to recent industry data.
HECM endorsements fell 6.4% to 4,243 loans in April, according to the latest analysis from Reverse Market Insight (RMI). With April’s decline, on a year-to-date basis, total endorsement volume through the first four months of the year is now 8.4% lower than 2015 levels.
April marks the second-lowest month for volume thus far in 2016, and the second consecutive month of endorsement declines, following 4,535 loans in March and 4,579 in February.
Despite lower volumes hitting most of the industry in April, as always, some lenders were able to buck the trend.
Three of the top-10 lenders tracked by RMI reported volume increases in April, the greatest of which was Liberty Home Equity Solutions, which grew its HECM endorsement count roughly 32% to 446 loans.
Reverse Mortgage Funding also grew, reporting 262 loans in April, a 15.4% increase from its previous month total.
Lastly among the top-10, Home Point Financial Corporation grew its volume 2.3% in April to 89 loans, up from 87 in March.
For other lenders, like Nationwide Equities, April helped pad their volume growth in 2016. Year-to-date, the company reports 373 loans through April, an increase of 163% compared to its volume during the first four months of 2015. On a year-to-date basis, Nationwide Equities ranks tenth overall among reverse mortgage lenders in terms of volume.
High Tech Lending jumped 62% to 355 loans this year through April, up from 219 units reported during the same period last year.
Among the top-10 largest lenders, Live Well Financial grew 32% to 734 loans year-to-date in 2016; and Liberty grew 28% to 1,565 loans, achieving the number two ranking among all lenders.
View the RMI data to see where other lenders stacked up in April.
Written by Jason Oliva
