HECM
volume:
Some
major
lenders
buck
trend

Despite
the
industrywide
drop
in
volume,
four
of
the
top
10
reverse
mortgage
lenders
in
the
country
recorded
gains
in
June.

Finance
of
America
(FOA)
added
4.1%
to
its
endorsement
tally
to
finish
at
534
loans,
after
lagging
behind


Mutual
of
Omaha
Mortgage
in
recent
months.


Guild
Mortgage
also
posted
a
gain
of
19.1%
to
56
loans,
while


South
River
Mortgage
and


HighTechLending
also
managed
positive
growth
in
June.

When
asked
if
the
decline
in
case
numbers
could
lead
to
a
more
tepid
summer
of
originations,
RMI
President
John
Lunde
said
it
was
likely.

“From
a
case
number
perspective
I
don’t
think
we’ll
see
dramatic
growth
in
endorsements
this
summer,
but
more
of
a
sideways
action
in
the
recent
range,”
he
said.

Each
type
of
reverse
mortgage
use
case
also
declined
in
June.
“Equity
takeout”
loans
—
reverse
mortgages
that
are
neither
purchases
nor
refinances
—
dropped
by
4.8%
from
May.
Purchases
fell
by
10.8%,
while
HECM-to-HECM
refinances
saw
a
large
drop
of
27.5%.

“It
doesn’t
surprise
me
that
refis
declined
since
it
was
likely
driven
primarily
by
the
lending
limit
increase
earlier
this
year,
which
was
always
a
very
limited
opportunity
without
rates
declining
significantly,”
Lunde
said
of
the
data.
“Purchase
is
one
we’re
watching
closely
with
the
recently
implemented
tweak
to
closing
costs
that
we
expect
to
open
that
door
more
fully.
Equity
takeout
is
the
most
stable
as
the
largest
segment
so
the
lower
volatility
in
May
makes
perfect
sense.”

When
asked
how
four
of
the
top
10
lenders
managed
to
avoid
decreases
in
their
endorsement
totals
in
June,
Lunde
said
that
geography
is
a
key
predictor
of
how
such
things
can
play
out.
Individual
choices
that
lenders
make
in
appealing
to
potential
clients
often
dictates
their
own
performance.

“Geographic
regions
are
usually
more
aligned
with
overall
industry
trends,
whereas
individual
lenders
can
create
significant
performance
gaps
purely
from
business
decisions
like
marketing
spend
increase/decreases,
prioritizing
or
de-emphasizing
endorsements
from
a
resource
perspective,
or
farming
attractive
in-house
sales
niches
(like
forward
loan
officer
relationships
or
servicing
portfolios),”
he
said.

Geographically,
the
region
that
endured
the
least
severe
drop
is
the
industry’s
most
prominent
one.
The
Pacific/Hawaii
region
fell
by
only
2.6%
to
594
loans
for
the
month.

As
FOA
and
Mutual
of
Omaha
continue
to
battle
for
reverse
mortgage
industry
supremacy,
Lunde
and
RMI
will
be
watching
closely,
he
said.

“I
do
watch
with
interest
as
these
two
compete
for
the
top
spot
for
the
foreseeable
future
as
they
are
very
different
stories,”
Lunde
explained.
”Mutual
of
Omaha
has
a
great
brand
and
customer
base
outside
of
reverse
that
provides
a
tailwind
while
FOA
has
led
the
industry
for
several
years
in
wholesale
and

acquired
the
largest
lender
with
a
particular
strength
in
retail.
We’re
excited
to
see
both
challenging
to
be
the
champion.”

HMBS
issuance:
Moderate
dip
maintains
historic
low

As
has
been
the
case
for
a
while,
HMBS
issuance
remains
at
historically
low
levels,
and
is
not
expected
to
reach
anywhere
near
the
records
set
in
2022
by
the
time
this
year
winds
down,
according
to
New
View

commentary
that
accompanied
the
data.

HMBS
issuance
fell
by
$29
million
from
May
to
a
total
of
$497
million
in
June,
but
the
same
raw
number
of
pools
were
issued
in
June
as
in
May
(86
pools).
Among
leading
companies,
FOA
again
claimed
the
top
issuer
spot
with
$159
million,
a
$2
million
increase
over
May’s
figure.

Longbridge
Financial
saw
an
$8
million
month-over-month
dip
to
$110
million,
while
Mutual
of
Omaha
and


PHH
Mortgage
Corp.
—
which
will

soon
rebrand
to

Onity
Mortgage
—
issued
$95
million
and
$85
million
in
June,
respectively.

When
asked
about
the
variance
between
the
issuance
levels
of
the
top
companies,
New
View
partner
Michael
McCully
said
it
doesn’t
play
much
of
a
role.

“There
is
nothing
to
be
read
from
any
variance
in
issuance
between
the
top
four
issuers;
in
the
aggregate
they
have
maintained
a
market
share
between
90%
and
95%
for
years,”
he
said.
“But,
11
issuers
overall
is
over-capacity
for
an
industry
projected
to
originate
less
than
$6
billion
in
2024.”

June’s
original,
first-participation
production
also
saw
a
decline
in
June
to
$331
million,
down
from
$361
million
in
May.
Year
over
year,
new
loan
production
was
substantially
lower
when
looking
at
data
from
the
same
period
in
2023,
New
View
explained.
Of
the
86
pools
issued
in
June,
24
were
first-participation
pools
while
62
were
tail
pools
with
subsequent
participations.

Changes
on
a
monthly
basis,
McCully
said,
are
largely
immaterial.

“The
industry
is
not
in
a
good
place
with
such
low
volume,”
he
said.
“Let’s
see
how

HMBS
2.0
affects
the
industry,
and
whether
rates
start
to
trend
down
more
permanently.”

When
asked
about
how
New
View
is
projecting
issuance
for
the
end
of
the
year,
McCully
said
it’s
pretty
simple
to
do.

“All
else
equal,
doubling
first
half
production
gives
a
reasonable
proxy
for
full
year
issuance,”
he
said.

New
View
also
published

updated
HMBS
issuer
league
tables
for
the
first
half
of
2024,
showing
FOA
with
31.9%
of
the
overall
market.
It
was
followed
by
Longbridge
(21.4%),
Mutual
of
Omaha
(18.4%),
PHH
(18%)
and

Traditional
Mortgage
Acceptance
Corp.
(3.6%).