Reverse mortgage wholesale volume rose 9.3% in January according to a report released this week from data provider Reverse Market Insight (RMI).

Wholesale endorsements totaled 2,413 units in January, a near 10% increase over the previous month, but still down 45.8% from January 2010.  Retail endorsements lost 6.8% month-over-month, totaling 4,049, but gained 27.7% from last year, according to RMI.

Broker volume accounted for 37.3% of total volume during the month, up from 33.7% but a 58.4% decline from a year ago.

Source: Reverse Market Insight

“The divergence between channels is particularly striking this month because retail was entirely responsible for the industry decline,” RMI said. “It’s way too early to attribute the weakness to Bank of America’s exit (we won’t see that effect until at least March or more likely April endorsements), so we can probably expect some bounce-back from Retail in February results if our client conversations are any indication.”

Despite its decision to leave the business, Bank of America had its best two months since February 2010 according to the report.  While the bank’s retail channel recovered with the rest of the industry, wholesale business grew very little.  “We’ve heard from several people in the industry that this directly related to the decision not to pursue certain types of broker/wholesale business,” said RMI.

With regard to specific Top-10 lenders, Genworth Financial and Urban Financial saw the greatest gains and Financial Freedom had the largest decline, landing at a multi-year low.

For a copy of the report, see here.

Written by Elizabeth Ecker