Monthly production of federally insured reverse mortgages inched higher. While the biggest retail reverse originator is exiting the business, its top ranking is far from diminished.
Lenders closed 5,807 home-equity conversion mortgages in August. Business was up from July, when production came in at 5,511 fundings.
The data was reported Friday by Reverse Market Insight.
But business fell short of the 6,645 HECMs endorsed by the Federal Housing Administration in August 2010.
So far in 2011, HECM production totals 49,161.
Zeroing in on just retail production, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., maintained its standing as the biggest originator with 1,665 August closings. Wells, which is in the process of getting out of the reverse mortgage business, closed 1,719 retail HECMs in July.
MetLife Bank pushed volume higher to 936 units from 716, landing it in the No. 2 spot.
No. 3 One Reverse Mortgage LLC saw production climb to 420 HECMs from July’s 328.
After than was Generation Mortgage Co., where retail originations fell to 405 last month from 491.
August production at Urban Financial Group tumbled to 291 from 426, leaving it as the fifth-biggest HECM lender.
RMIÂ reported that the number of active reverse mortgage lenders has fallen to 1,269 from 2,001 last year.
