As the volume of home-equity conversion mortgages rose last month, the second biggest reverse mortgage lender gained ground on the top originator.
Reverse mortgage originations came in at 9,473 loans last month, according to Reverse Market Insight. Volume rose from August’s 8,933 loans but slipped from 9,494 units during September 2008.
From January through September, HECM originations totaled 87,130 loans.
The number of lenders originating reverse mortgages climbed to 2,905 in September from 2,784 the prior month. A year earlier, there were 2,624 active lenders.
Among September’s most active lenders was Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., where reverse mortgage closings fell to 1,282 from 1,386 during August.
Bank of America, N.A., closed 1,046 HECMs last month, jumping from 718 loans in August. The gap between No. 1 Wells Fargo and No. 2 BoA narrowed to 236 units in September from 668 the previous month.
Business picked up at Financial Freedom Acquisition, which increased from 342 in August to 478 loans in September — making the OneWest Bank FSB subsidiary the third biggest reverse mortgage lender.
No. 4 One Reverse Mortgage LLC saw volume climb to 244 from 180 in August, while No. 5 MetLife Bank dropped from 266 to 215 last month.
