The Federal Housing Administration’s latest Outlook Report shows reverse mortgage applications were up 14.4% in February with 6,643 units. It’s the first increase for applications in a few months after only 5,805 in January.
While the uptick in applications is a good sign, HECM applications are still down 47.8% from February 2009 which had 12,731 applications.
The report also shows that while applications during FY 2010 are down 54.2% from the same period last year, actual endorsements are only down 15.3%. In addition, FHA reports that despite units being down, total max claim amount of HECMs endorsed during FY 2010 rose 0.9% from FY 2009 to $11 billion.
During February the industry endorsed 7,024 HECMs, consisting of 6,358 traditional HECMs, 129 HECM for purchase loans, and 537 HECM refis. Total maximum claim amounts came in at $1.9 billion in February.
