The Home Equity Conversion Mortgage industry is on pace to beat a disappointing 2016, with a new projected endorsement total of 53,000 to 57,000 loans through the end of the year.
That would be more in line with totals seen in 2014 and 2015, according to an analysis from Reverse Market Insight. The industry suffered its worst year in a decade in 2016, logging 48,794 endorsements, but trends so far this year have been positive — even though a predicted surge in volume caused by changes to principal limit factors and mortgage insurance premiums is unlikely to move the needle substantially before the end of the year.
“With the rule changes going into effect [Monday] not expected to significantly affect endorsement volumes until December or even January, we’re also getting a clearer picture of where 2017 is likely to shake out,” RMI noted in its analysis.
Between January and July, endorsements were running 18.3% higher than in 2016, though numbers have been generally trending downward since a blockbuster March. RMI additionally turned up several interesting instances of declines amid the otherwise upbeat numbers, with Houston lagging behind its 2016 totals and three of the highest-volume ZIP codes also off last year’s pace.
Despite the positive year-over-year news, HECM lenders had a down September, turning in 6.8% fewer loans than in August. The drop was even steeper, 8.6%, for the top 10 lenders, though seventh-place Live Well Financial saw a 37.6% spike — its highest total in more than a year, according to RMI.
Written by Alex Spanko
