While the reverse mortgage industry doesn’t expect huge growth (if any) this year, certain areas of the country continue to see an increase in volume despite the tough economic conditions. The latest trends report from Reverse Market Insight shows that the state of Maryland continues to be a bright spot. In fact, the city of Baltimore has seen the biggest growth YTD of any city with a 20% increase in units.
According to RMI, the active number of lenders in Baltimore has been decreasing, however the number of loans has been going up as others exit the industry. “While the industry overall continues to see declines in volume, there are always some bright spots bucking the trend,” said John Lunde, President of RMI. “The challenges everyone is facing have already started driving lenders out of the business and created opportunities for lenders who remain committed to the business.”
While Maryland is one example, he expects it to happen in other areas of the country as well. “We’ve specifically noticed that growth stories seem to be truly local phenomenon – cases where a lender focuses intently on a specific city or metro and drives sales and marketing to support a specific market opportunity they’ve identified.”
“Larger lenders that are spreading their focus across the nation or many regions at a time don’t appear to be having the same success in this climate, although there are many possible reasons for that disparity.”
