Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsements fell by 16.4% in the month of June 2020, for a total of 4,203 loans according to the latest HECM Originators report from Reverse Market Insight (RMI). The fall came on the heels of a massive endorsement spike observed in May, and still accounted for the second highest endorsement tally in over a year.
The drop was led by the wholesale endorsement segment of business, which experienced a fall of 25.5% that month, while retail levels recorded a smaller decrease of 8.6%.
This fall made sense considering the clearing backlog of endorsements observed in May, according to RMI in its commentary accompanying the data.
Among the lenders who still recorded increases for the month, HighTechLending stood out with a 604% increase to 169 loans, catching up on comparatively weaker figures recorded in April and May, respectively. Mutual of Omaha Mortgage grew 11% to 272 loans, constituting its second consecutive month of record highs.
Smaller originators also managed to record some noticeable increases. Bellevue, Wash.-based Goodlife Home Loans increased 152.9% to a total of 43 loans, while Los Angeles-based South River Mortgage grew by 450% to 22 loans, notable since South River only recently entered the reverse space.
Lunde previously detailed for RMD that the HECM Originators report is useful in seeing the splits in and health of the retail versus wholesale channels, which helps to illustrate how lenders are doing from a more individualized and channel-specific perspective.
Read the HECM Originators report at RMI for specific breakdowns and more regional performance data.
