HECM originations sink to lowest level since 2020, HMBS issuance down 17% in September

September produced more declines in the market for federally insured reverse mortgages, with the number of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsements dropping 6.7% and HECM Mortgage-Backed Securities (HMBS) issuance down 17% from the prior month. The monthly HECM data published Thursday by Reverse Market Insight (RMI) showed that endorsements in September declined to 1,790 — down from 1,919 in August and the lowest total for any month since April 2020. RMI said in its report that case numbers, representing submitted applications for new HECM loans, were running “solidly” in the range of about 3,000 per month from May through July. But many of these applicants dropped out of lender pipelines, resulting in fewer closed-loan endorsements for the ensuing months. The top lenders for September were Finance of America (408 endorsements), Mutual of Omaha Mortgage (366), Longbridge Financial (342), Fairway Home Mortgage (65) and South River Mortgage (63). Through the first three quarters of the year, Finance of America (FOA) widened its lead with 3,838 endorsements. Mutual of Omaha (3,709), Longbridge (3,151), Goodlife (806) and South River (634) rounded out the top five. When comp...