With the financial assessment just a week away, the majority of reverse mortgage lenders agree the new rules will cause production volume to decline, but the extent to which they predict volume production will decline has shifted since earlier this year.
Fifty percent of reverse mortgage industry members anticipate a volume decline of 6-20% after the financial assessment goes into effect, according to results of a recent RMD webinar poll. Fourteen percent anticipate a decline of 21-50% and 4% of respondents say volume production will decline by more than 50%.
However, 32% say the impact of the FA will be slim, reducing production volume by 5% or less. In January, 16% of industry members said production volume would take a 5% or less hit.
In addition, 50% of industry members polled April 15 say they believe the financial assessment will benefit the industry in the long-term, with 25% saying it will not benefit the industry and 24% saying they are not sure.
The industry has long been bracing for the upcoming changes, with industry members recently expressing mixed feelings about their views on The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) decision to push back implementation from March 2 to April 27.
But industry members do agree on one thing: the financial assessment signals the start of a new era.
Written by Cassandra Dowell
