Below is a list of the top HECM lenders through May 2009. Be sure to check out the commentary and link below which goes into more detail.
- Endorsements for the month of May were 8,396, bringing us to 50,261endorsements YTD. While down sharply from the previous months, overall endorsement volume for the year is still trending 2.1% above last years levels.
- The endorsement weakness was across the board, as all top 10 lenders and all regions saw significant declines. We aren’t sure if this is a HUD endorsement backlog issue, a data issue, or if we are really seeing a drop in funding volume across the industry as margins and rates take a toll.
- Of the top 10 lenders, only two have volume declines vs last year on Year to Date numbers: Financial Freedom and World Alliance Financial. We wouldn’t shocked to see a new #3 in the industry by year’s end (on a retail funding basis).
- The strongest HUD region YTD is New York/New Jersey, with unit growth of 23.7% vs last year. Following closely on its heels are the Rocky Mountain (+18.4%), Northwest/Alaska (+17.6%), and Southwest (+17.2%) regions.
- The Southeast/Caribbean region remains the leader in terms of endorsement volume (11,757 units YTD), but is the 3rd worst performing region in terms of growth at -3.2%. The dubious distinction of worst growth belongs to the Pacific/Hawaii region (-9.9%).
- One of the more important metrics we track is the “New Lenders by Month” on page 4. May saw 75 new lenders receive their first endorsement, which is the lowest number of new lenders entering the business since September 2007.
- On top of that, the number of lenders receiving an endorsement this month fell by 269, or -21%.
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