The high mortgage rates that have stymied the broader housing market continue to put a lid on reverse mortgage activity too.
According to the June report from Reverse Mortgage Insight, Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsements dropped to 2,244 loans, down 2.3% compared to May and part of a sinking trend that resumed after an uptick in April.
Meanwhile, data from New View Advisors revealed that HECM-Mortgage Backed Securities (HMBS) issuance dropped 6.3% last month to $510 million on 71 pools.
Mortgage rates are playing a role in subdued reverse channel activity. Rates popped up to 7% after President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement in April. Borrowers and lenders have gotten some relief lately, however, as 30-year conforming rates fell to 6.91% as of Wednesday afternoon.
But Jon McCue of Reverse Mortgage Insight said that it’s hard to identify trends in HECM endorsements because the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) hasn’t released its production report since February.
“We are unable to see the top of the funnel with any great clarity at the moment so we can only look at market conditions,” McCue said via email. “Since there was a modest raise in rates it really wasn’t too shocking to see the small dip this month in production. The overall thing though is we seem to have landed at a current ‘normal,’ which is around the mid-2,000 loan level.”
While HECM endorsements dropped, some parts of the country are experiencing substantial increases. Year-to-date volume in St. Louis (+45.2%), Pittsburgh (+42%), Detroit (+35.2%) and Cleveland (+23.7%) are running well ahead of 2024’s pace. They are also among the most affordable and hottest markets in the country.
Among the top 10 HECM lenders, four had monthly increases in June. Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. — which announced a rebranding to Fairway Home Mortgage on Wednesday — jumped the most, up 41.8% to 95 loans.
Mutual of Omaha had 544 loans last month, followed by Finance of America (431) Longbridge Financial (310) and Liberty Reverse Mortgage (97).
On the HMBS side, Finance of America outpaced the competition in the second quarter of 2025 with an aggregate loan amount of $933 million across 149 pools, good for a market share of 29.8%.
Longbridge’s volume reached $726 million on 71 pools for a market share of 23.2%. PHH Mortgage (18.4%), Mutual of Omaha (18.3%) and Traditional Mortgage Acceptance Corp. rounded out the top five.
English (US) · 