Americans 62 years old and older now have more equity in their homes than at any time since early 2008, according to the latest Reverse Mortgage Market Index (RMMI).
Collective home equity of Americans 62 and older has grown by more than 22% since the second quarter of 2012, to a total of $3.73 trillion, according to the data released by the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association and RiskSpan.
The figure surpasses the senior home equity $83.5 billion surge in the fourth quarter of 2013, as senior home equity continues to show marked progress as it edges closer to earlier highs.
The $125.2 billion increase in senior home equity in the second quarter was the largest quarterly increase in equity since the third quarter of 2005. Seventy-seven percent of equity in the households of American seniors is paid.
In the second quarter of this year the RMMI reached 178.91, its highest level since the fourth quarter of 2007. The index has risen for nine consecutive quarters, based on the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s second quarter 2014 all-transactions Indices.
Mortgage debt held by Americans 62 and older stands at $1.08 trillion, a figure which has held steady over the past three quarters. Senior mortgage debt peaked at $1.143 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2009.
To date, more than 870,000 senior households have utilized an FHA-insured reverse mortgage, and more than 575,000 senior households are currently have a reverse mortgage.
Written by Cassandra Dowell
