HECM endorsements dropped -1.7% to 2,153 loans in January, as the new year started off with the same old drift lower for originations.
Half of the regions grew, but it had a decided bias as just 1 of the top 5 grew and it was number 5:
- New England gained 13.6% to 117 loans, which could see it jumping NY/NJ soon if recent trends continue
- Mid-Atlantic rose 12.3% to 137 loans
- NY/NJ increased 10.5% to 105 loans
The top lenders also had 4 gaining ground:
- Goodlife led the way, adding 27% to 47 loans
- Fairway shot up 19.1% to 106 loans
- FAR bounced back 17.7% to 592 loans
As a leading indicator, there aren’t many better than case numbers issued for HECM. Unfortunately, the update there is disappointing.
- Keep in mind that October was the peak of our recent 10 year CMT rates before rates started dropping in November
- Total cases issued dropped -22% in Nov from Oct, with a -21.1% drop for New, non-purchase borrowers and -22.5% for Purchase
- A year earlier, we had a -20.5% drop overall but a much bigger share was from fewer refinances with -16.9% for New and -11.1% for Purchase
- So, no real expectations for a turnaround in endorsements soon as it looks like typical seasonal weakness was exacerbated by the erosion of high expected rates
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