Despite a down month for reverse mortgage endorsements in April, several lenders are standing out with rising loan counts for the fourth month of calendar 2015.
Endorsement volume fell 3.1% during the month to 4,492 loans from March, but several lenders stood out with strong channel-specific results in April, according to data tracked by Reverse Market Insight, with a split across retail and wholesale business channels.
During the month of April, retail volume declined 6.3% and wholesale ticked up 1.7%, RMI reported this week.
But lender rankings garnered the interest of RMI in its monthly report, which pointed to several standouts: Reverse Mortgage Funding, Cherry Creek, and FirstBank.
RMF, which entered the reverse mortgage business in late 2012, continues to grow at a steady pace and counting 377 loans—a near 90% month-over-month increase—during April.
The company has made strides in launching retail and wholesale channels, and last year announced plans to take the company public via an IPO anticipated for this year. It has also risen in the ranks of reverse mortgage securities issuers in the early months of the year.
Other standouts were Cherry Creek, which operates its reverse mortgage channel 1st Reverse Mortgage USA and tallied 89 endorsements during the month for the No. 10 spot in the top 10 rankings.
Finally, FirstBank grew its retail loan count to 44, marking a 46.7% increase month over month and comprising 10% of its loan volume over the last 12 months.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker