January saw HECM endorsements mostly flat from December, rising just 0.1% to 4,946 loans. It’s a decent way to start off the new year, but as seems to always be the case we’re expecting the biggest story for volume this year to be related to an FHA change in the program. Financial Assessment rolls out in March, which should start affecting endorsement figures in June/July. For now, here are the themes from January.
- 6 of 10 regions were up, with a notable rise from Pacific/Hawaii to 1,269 loans. That’s an increase of 13.2%, but more notably puts the region at its highest level since March 2011 – back when the monthly volume nationally was 47.7% higher at 7,306 loans!
- New York/New Jersey and New England also had strong months, growing 23% and 12.6%, respectively
Starting on page 2 (and continuing with year over year growth on page 5) the focus turns to lenders:
- RMS/Security One grew 29.8% to 645 loans, their strongest showing since last February
- Urban grew 10.8% to 381 loans, the highest reading on this report (which excludes most wholesale loans) since July 2013
- AAG also rose 4.9% to 1,219 loans
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.
