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HECM endorsements shrank -7.7% in May to 5,783 loans. We have little doubt that the recent rise in 10 year treasury rates influenced that decline, even though case numbers issued (a proxy for HECM applications) show a ~10% increase in HECM to HECM refinance (H2H) volume in March. That’s the most recent case number data […]
April HECM endorsements sagged -3.8% to 6,265 loans – not bad after setting a 10 year high last month. HECM refinances have always been driven more by home price appreciation than interest rate changes, but rising rates do cool things down a bit.
We’d expect slower growth than last year at minimum, but further volume declines […]
March HECM endorsements leaped 26.3% to 6,510 loans – and no this isn’t an April Fools joke! This is the highest monthly volume level since March 2011.
All 10 regions were up, and it was anything but the usual western tilt:
February HECM endorsements dropped -10.7% to 5,153 loans after a roaring start to 2022, yet held above 5,000 loans per month for the third straight month and four of the last five. It looks too soon at this point to call January an anomaly, but if we ignore that there’s remarkable consistency around the 5,000 […]
After finishing 2021 on the highs, 2022 has started out even higher! HECM endorsements rose 10.6% to 5,771 loans in January, shifting the conversation from a possible fluke in year end volume to wondering how much farther the industry can run in the near term with very favorable home prices, low interest rates, and newfound […]
HECM endorsements inched down -1.5% to 4,953 loans in November, consolidating gains from October with the second highest monthly volume of the year.
Five of the ten regions were up on the month with both of the top two down keeping the industry overall from adding to last month’s gains:
HECM endorsements jumped 16.3% to 5,029 loans in October, in an emphatic move higher after a swoon in August. As always, it’s best to take a single month of endorsements with a grain of salt since lenders are focused on funding rather than endorsement (that’s where the money is).
Midwest took its turn in the barrel […]
HECM endorsements bounced back 17.6% to 4,326 loans, with vacation season over and even the latest government shutdown averted (for now).
The regions were almost uniformly higher, with a decline in NY/NJ preventing a clean sweep:
Lenders were almost as […]
HECM endorsements dropped -14.3% to 3,679 loans, as it felt like everyone caught up on 2 years of vacation this summer. The drop is a bit concerning given the industry had been above 4,000 loans for 8 consecutive months, but it remains to be seen if this will be a momentary endorsement blip.
The regions were […]
HECM endorsements rose 3.2% in July to 4,293 loans, in a slightly delayed release due to system updates at HUD.
While we again saw only 3 of the 10 regions increase volume, all 3 were in the top 5 volume regions and that made all the difference:
