While most lenders saw reverse mortgage volume fall in January, one among the top-10 saw a notable increase in closings.
As noted in Department of Housing and Urban Development data released in January and analyzed by Reverse Market Insight (RMI) earlier this month, HighTechLending (HTL) saw a notable 513 percent jump to 49 loans, an outlier when compared with the other companies listed.
HTL’s growth rate significantly outpaced the growth percentage at larger companies including Liberty Home Equity Solutions and American Advisors Group (AAG), which closed 69 and 593 loans, respectively.
“HTL’s spike in HECM business was mainly due to closing out our Q4 2018 endorsements,” said Don Currie, president of HighTechLending in an email to RMD. “However, our 2018 strategy to implement and build out our digital lead division also contributed to our HECM increase.”
Currie also credited active expansion in the volume of different business channels for the higher endorsement figure in the first month of the year.
“HTL continues to see a steady build in volume for retail and wholesale. Another boost to our success has been the gradual recruitment of top retail producers, better operations and continued competitive pricing which ranks among the highest in the reverse industry,” he said.
RMI president John Lunde noted that HTL’s endorsement figure averages out when looking at November and December activity, but says that a continuing growth trend into the next round of endorsement data could be significant.
“The HighTech jump looked more like a catch up in endorsement side to me than anything else given the very weak numbers in the prior two months for them,” Lunde told RMD in an email. “But, if it sustains or grows further in February then it would be more notable.”
In the case of HTL, the company appears focused on using January’s momentum to lay the groundwork for a consistent upward trend.
“In order to continue our 2018 momentum, HTL is rolling out a HECM Principal Agent Platform and adding Non-QM products to our retail and wholesale distribution channels in Q2 2019,” Currie added.
