Now offering expert services and software tools for Servicing Oversight and Portfolio/Asset Management. Learn More.

Category Archives: HECM Lenders

Sunnier Side – HECM Lenders July 2023

July HECM endorsements rose 9.4% to 2,802 loans, the highest level since November if we exclude March’s unnaturally boosted figure from corporate actions.

The geographic view reflected the bright results too, with 8 of the 10 regions showing improvement:

  • Midwest jumped 27.7% to 221 loans
  • New England rose 22.1% to 105 loans
  • Mid-Atlantic trailed just behind, […]

Coming Together – HECM Lenders June 2023

May HECM endorsements jumped 24.7% to 2,561 loans as the acquisition of AAG by FAR looks to be settling out in the volume figures. More to come on this in the second set of bullet points for today!

While the month was more of a lender story than a regional one in our opinion, it makes […]

Inching Up – HECM Lenders May 2023

May HECM endorsements inched up 4.6% to 2,053 loans as the case number increases we’ve seen year to date look to be working their way through the pipeline.

Eight of the ten regions were higher for the month, although all the biggest gains were among 3 of the 4 smallest volume regions:

  • New England rose 37.3% to […]

New Leadership – HECM Lenders Apr 2023

April HECM endorsements fell -48.2% to 1,963 loans, as the noise from multiple corporate transactions in March dropped back out of these results. Judging by the drop under 2,000 loans on the endorsement side, the February increase in case numbers issued is still working its way through the system – and we don’t have March […]

Merger Month – HECM Lenders Mar 2023

If we posted this on Saturday we’d have more than one reader suggesting it was a cruel April Fools joke, but the 3rd is the first business day of the month so maybe it’s more credible?

March usually looks good relative to February by virtue of more working days, but HECM endorsements leaped 73.4% to 3,789 […]

Short Month – HECM Lenders Feb 2023

February is always a short month with fewer working days, but last month also marked another new low for HECM volume in the wake of higher interest rates and slowing home prices.

HECM endorsements dropped -12.2% to 2,185 loans – the lowest total in 4 full years if we exclude the COVID-induced lull in April 2020.

Just […]

How Short? – HECM Lenders Jan 2023

January HECM endorsements dropped a further -10.7% to 2,489 loans. Rather than beat a dead horse, a picture felt more appropriate here:

It’s clear that the regions with the highest volume peak in 2022 were also generally the ones to decline the most. That’s the epitome of what we continue to see as the first real […]

Happy 2023?!? – HECM Lenders Dec 2022

A month ago we were lamenting the RMF bankruptcy news and with Ginnie Mae’s extinguishment of RMF as an HMBS issuer, it’s now clear that the industry got two lumps of coal for the holidays.

December HECM endorsements dropped -14.9% to 2,786 loans – the lowest total in 3 full years if we exclude the COVID-induced […]

Oh Dear – HECM Lenders Nov 2022

There’s been much bigger news this week with the bankruptcy of longtime industry lender RMF, but endorsements were only good by comparison to that heartbreak. HECM endorsements continued to settle in at the new normal, falling -6.6% in November, just barely avoiding a new multi-year low compared with just two months ago.

We now have 6 […]

Look Out – HECM Lenders September 2022

Look out below! We’ve been talking about the end of the first real refi boom in HECMs for months now and the proof is finally here. HECM endorsements sank -43.5% in September, the lowest total in 2.5 years.

The expectation is that refinances have dropped dramatically in September, but any significant weakness beyond that could mean […]