We’ve written before about the pockets of reverse mortgage growth in what continues to be a down market for the industry overall and this month’s HECM Trends provides another series of examples.
While California, Texas, and New York continue to outpace all states for volume, we’re starting to see unexpected places like Kansas City and Nashville show resiliency of their own. At the bottom of page 2, you can find lists of maximum claim amount (MCA) growth that features several interesting cities:
- Kansas City, MO takes the top spot from Saint George, UT on a growth basis, although Saint George still leads by a wide margin in total volume. With just under $7 million in total MCA, KC is up $2.5 million from the first six months of 2011.
- Saint George, UT is a HECM Purchase story we’ve written about before, and still registering solid growth after several years in the spotlight
- Nashville, TN is up $1.8 million for 3rd place
- Riverside, CA and Jamaica, NY are both longtime hotspots for reverse mortgage activity, ranked 4th and 5th, respectively
- Further down the list we see somewhat unexpected cities like Metairie, LA, Pensacola, FL, Knoxville, TN and Amarillo, TX with growth relative to last year.
The growth in these cities might not be as exciting as 2006 (total MCA +124% Jan-Jun), but these areas are all bucking the trend when the industry total MCA is down -25% year to date. The foremost opportunity in reverse these days might be back-filling the incredible distribution gaps left by the exit of major lenders, but these cities show that there are some less obvious areas for success in the business too.
Check out the full report below by clicking on the image and learn more about what works in reverse.
