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Category Archives: HECM Lenders

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 […]

Pulling Up – HECM Lenders Aug 2022

HECM endorsements rose 16.2% in August, after a potentially worrying decline in July.

We don’t have an update yet on case numbers issued past June or endorsement mix in August, but once those are available we’ll be looking closely at new HECM growth and where refinance activity is settling.

On the regional side, 8 of the 10 […]

Picking Up Steam – HECM Lenders July 2022

HECM endorsements shrank -17% in July, as the increases in 10 year CMT rates from earlier in the year flow through the application/funding/endorsement cycle.

A look at the case numbers issued through June shows that 2/3 of the decline on that end of the process is from H2H refinance drops, but 1/3 is from a decline […]

HECM Lenders June 2022

HECM endorsements shrank rose 2.7% in June, bucking the headwinds from rapidly rising 10 year treasury rates so far, to finish with 5,937 loans.

We also saw the May edition of FHA’s Production Report released, showing a -56.3% drop in HECM to HECM refinance case numbers issued from March to May. Coupled with a -21.8% decrease […]