HECM volume slips in August, with the ‘Big 3’ holding 62% market share

Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) origination activity sank again in August, with the nation’s top 100 lenders endorsing 1,919 loans during the month, down 5.7% from July. That represented the “lowest August total we’ve seen in years,” according to HECMWorld.com’s report based on data compiled by Reverse Market Insight. The report, released Tuesday, showed that the top three lenders continued to dominate the market for federally insured reverse mortgages. Finance of America (FOA) was No. 1, endorsing 433 loans in August, but that was down 13.2% from July. Mutual of Omaha Mortgage was No. 2, with its 395 endorsements representing a 3.7% gain from the prior month, while Longbridge Financial was No. 3, as its 357 endorsements were up 1.7%. The combined HECM market share for FOA, Mutual of Omaha and Longbridge stood at roughly 62% last month. Through the first eight months of this year, HECM endorsements declined 10.3% compared to the same period last year. Goodlife Home Loans, Fairway Home Mortgage, South River Mortgage and Guild Mortgage took the fourth through seventh spots in the August rankings. Fairway was the only company in that group to grow its endorsements during the mo...