Federally insured reverse mortgage production moved higher on a monthly basis and has surged by nearly half on a year-over-year basis. Although reverse lending subsidiaries of larger mortgage lenders have recently dominated the sector, a 77 percent month-over-month increase at an independent firm thrust it into the top position during July.
Last month, 5,756 home-equity conversion mortgages were endorsed by the Federal Housing Administration.
HECMÂ lending accelerated from the prior month, when 5,372 reverse mortgages were originated.
FHA-insured reverse mortgage production leapt from the same month in 2012, when only 3,868 HECMs were endorsed.
The statistics were reported by Reverse Market Insight.
From Jan. 1 until July 31, FHA endorsed 38,112 reverse mortgages.
There were 508 active HECM lenders in July, two more than a year earlier.
The most-active HECM originator last month was American Advisors Group, where 914 reverse mortgages were insured by FHA. The Irvine, Calif.-based company’s volume surged from 517 units in June.
American Advisors is owned and managed by Reza Jahangiri, according to a previous consent order from the Washington Department of Financial Institutions.
Next was June’s top lender, Liberty Home Equity Solutions Inc., with 645 endorsements during July. The Ocwen Financial Corp.-subsidiary’s business inched up from 618 the prior month.
After that was Security One Lending/Reverse Mortgage Solutions, which generated 592 HECMÂ endorsements. Security One, a unit of Walter Investment Management Corp., was the biggest HECM originator in April and May.
No. 4 One Reverse Mortgage LLC originated 429 HECMs, and No. 5 Urban Financial Group closed 389 reverse mortgages. One Reverse is owned by Quicken Loans Inc.
