HECM endorsements dropped -31.4% to 1,751 loans in December, establishing a second consecutive low point after the FHA product changes took effect in October 2017.
- Last month we wondered if November’s decline was just some volume shifting from HECMs to proprietary, calling that the best case scenario
- This month’s drop looks a lot more like our worst case scenario, which is that it’s something else and more of a true reverse mortgage volume reduction overall
- Even the most optimistic proprietary product advocates weren’t painting 700+ loan per month volume scenarios for 2018 which is what would need to be happening for demand to be relatively stable to growing compared to June-October HECM endorsements volumes
- While the government shutdown does mean that HECMs were not endorsed for 5 of the 20 working days in December, that adjustment would only take volume to 2,335 loans
All in all, if the government shutdown didn’t get you down for year end, this last round of HECM endorsement numbers should have done the trick. Good thing our industry is populated with eternal optimists and gluttons for punishment (everyone else left the scene years ago…).
If your company is FHA approved check out the rankings on page 5 of the report below. If your company is not FHA approved, watch out for our next edition of HECM Originators to find your ranking!
Click the image below for the full report.
