Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., maintained its grip on the No. 1 spot for reverse mortgage lenders. But when factoring in only wholesale originations — another leader has emerged.
April reverse mortgage production at Wells — including retail and wholesale — was 1,279 loans, rising from 1,166 a month earlier, a report today from Reverse Market Insight indicated. During both months, Wells originated more than any other reverse mortgage lender.
Bank of America, N.A., meanwhile, saw fundings slip to 883 loans from March’s 1,061. Still, the bank ranked second.
No. 3 Urban Financial also had lower volume, falling to 792 reverse mortgages from 827. MetLife Bank’s business increased to 710 units from 639, and originations at No. 5 Generation Mortgage declined to 397 from 437.
Of the 5,505 reverse mortgages closed in April by all lenders, 2,692 were retail, lower than 2,783 a month earlier and 6,320 a year earlier.
Wholesale originations were 2,813, lower than 3,038 in March and 5,341 in April 2009.
April’s biggest wholesaler was Urban Financial, where 586 reverse mortgages were originated by third parties. Urban funded 615 loans in March — when it first grabbed the top wholesale spot from Generation Mortgage. Growth is apparently being funded by Knight Capital Group Inc., which announced in March that it would acquire Urban.
MetLife followed, with wholesale volume rising to 530 from 497.
No. 3 BoA fell to 418 from 505, Generation declined to 336 from 350 and No. 5 Financial Freedom fell to 247 from 276.
