Category Archives: HECM Originators

HECM endorsements overall were down -14.8% in December, with Wholesale/brokers (-14.9%) and Retail/direct (-14.8%) in virtual lock-step for the second month in a row.

Four of the top ten lenders managed to grow in spite of the industry decline:

• South River increased 10% to 77 loans
• Longbridge gained 9.3% to 492 loans, approaching AAG’s total for the month […]
  

HECM endorsements overall were down -6.6% in November, with Wholesale/brokers (-7.3%) and Retail/direct (-6%) both feeling the drop.

Just 3 of the top 10 lenders were positive on the month:

• Liberty bounced 22.1% higher to 321 loans
• Longbridge gained 2% to 450 loans as they continue to gain ground on FAR in second place
• Fairway also rose 2% to […]
  

HECM endorsements overall were relatively steady in October, rising 8.3%, after a big fall in September, but retail/direct was up 14.3% while wholesale/brokers rose a more meager 1.3%.

The top 10 lenders were mixed, with 6 rising and 4 declining.

• RMF actually led the way, growing 40.7% in a partial recovery from their September low, although their […]
  

HECM endorsements plummeted -43.5% in September, with both wholesale/brokers (-47.3%) and retail/direct (-39.8%) off dramatically from August.

The top 10 lenders fared worse collectively than the industry overall, dropping -45.5%.

• Only two of the top 10 declined less than 30% on the month
• Mutual of Omaha dropped -7.7% to 469 loans
• Open Mortgage fell -18.5% to 132 loans

Case numbers […]

HECM endorsements rose 16.3% in August, with wholesale/brokers (25.3%) outperforming retail/direct (8.8%) substantially.

Eight of the top ten lenders were up on the month – although it’s very likely they all declined in September on the same basis…

• Fairway led the charge, jumping 65.5% to 293 loans
• Longbridge was just behind, increasing 53.1% to 1,447 […]
  

HECM endorsements dropped -17.1% in July, with both channels falling lower together. Retail/direct lenders lost -19.0% while the Wholesale/broker channel dropped -14.7%.

• Longbridge stood out as the only top 10 lender to increase volume, rising 30.3% to 945 loans – an all time company high for this report
• H2H refinance case numbers issued dropped to 1,023 in […]
  

HECM endorsements rose 2.7% in June, with both channels modestly higher. Retail/direct lenders gained 1.6% while the Wholesale/broker channel rose 4.1%.

Five of the top ten lenders managed to rise in a surprisingly differentiated month:

• Longbridge jumped 31.8% to 725 loans, their highest since January
• Hightech rose 18.4% to 103 loans
• South River bounced back 17.7% to 153 loans

Several […]

HECM endorsements dropped a further -7.6% in May, with lender volume again falling more than brokers on the month. Retail/direct lenders dropped -8.2% while the Wholesale/broker channel declined -6.9%.

After 2 full years without an in person NRMLA conference, we just completed our second in 3 months in Baltimore. Business casual reigned and moods relaxed, with […]

HECM endorsements eased down -3.7% in April after a recent high in March, with lenders pulling back more than brokers on the month. Retail/direct lenders dropped -5% while the Wholesale/broker channel declined just -2%.

While we don’t currently publish proprietary volume numbers, there was no shortage of anecdotes at the NRMLA West conference last month that […]

HECM endorsements set a recent record in March by rising 26.4% to 6,495 loans, but we’re digging a bit deeper today:

• Wholesale/broker led the way, rising 28% to 2,765 loans
• Retail/direct growth trailed slightly, increasing 25.2% to 3,730
• Refis slipped another point to 48.3% of all loans in March, a second consecutive month of slight drops – and […]