New Fiscal Year Brings New Reverse Mortgage Top 10

With the 2009 fiscal year ending on September 30, this month’s HECM volume report revealed a new list of the top 10 reverse mortgage lenders, very much changed from that of last fiscal year. The list is below, compared to that of 2009 FY. However, given how close many of the lenders are to each other in terms of the number of HECMs they endorsed, it is by no means clear how the list will shake out over the next few months.

October 2009:

1. Wells Fargo

2. Bank of America

3. MetLife Bank

4. Financial Freedom Acquisition

5. One Reverse Mortgage

6. 1st AAA Reverse Mortgage

7. First Mariner Bank

8. Security One Lending

9. Harvard Home Mortgage

10. Stay in Home Mortgage

Fiscal Year 2009:

1. Wells Fargo

2. Bank of America

3. World Alliance Financial Corp

4. Financial Freedom

5. One Reverse Mortgage

6. MetLife Bank

7. Countrywide Financial

8. Generation Mortgage

9. Urban Financial Group

10. 1st AAA Reverse Mortgage

Thus, from last year’s top 10, only 6 remain in the top 10 for October. The complete list for October can be found on the HUD website. The changes will also be reflected on the Reverse Mortgage Guides website in the Lender Directory in the near future.

HECM Volume in September Increases Over August

September’s HECM volume report as published by HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Development) showed that the number of HECMs endorsed increased by about 500 loans from August to September. The number of HECMs endorsed in September was 9,473, while 8,933 HECMs were endorsed in August. However, this number does not reflect the dramatic increase in the number of case numbers assigned the last week in September during the final days of the former PLF limits. As such, the number of HECMs endorsed should rise rapidly in October and November, as they are processed and closed.

In the meantime, the HECM lenders in the top 10 remained unchanged from August. These top 10 lenders are measured by the total number of HECMs endorsed so far this year, explaining why some lenders that have left the reverse mortgage business are still in the top 10. The list is as follows:

1. Wells Fargo

2. Bank of America

3. World Alliance Financial Corp

4. Financial Freedom

5. One Reverse Mortgage

6. MetLife Bank

7. Countrywide Financial

8. Generation Mortgage

9. Urban Financial Group

10. 1st AAA Reverse Mortgage

It will be very interesting to see if this list changes in the next two months as the number of HECMs endorsed increases dramatically. The complete list for September can be found on the HUD website. The changes will be reflected on the Reverse Mortgage Guides website in the Lender Directory within the next week.

HECM Volume Increases in July; Top 10 Lenders Shaken Up

HECM volume increased dramatically this month. 9,830 HECMs were endorsed in July, up from 8,633 last month. This is a good sign if 2009 HECM volume is to surpass the HECM volume in 2008.

The same 9 lenders continued to possess an increased market share despite one of them (World Alliance Financial Corp) going out of buisness last month. One wonders if the increased number of endorsed HECMs from World Alliance Financial Corp (also known as Senior Lending Network) are a result of them trying to close out their pipeline as fast as possible. World Alliance Financial Corp rose to the #3 spot this month from number 4 a month ago. It will be interesting to see if they remain in the #3 spot next month.

The top nine lenders are ordered below with rankings determined by the number of HECMs endorsed by the lenders YTD. Financial Freedom only endorsed 10 HECMs last month, while Countrywide endorsed 8. One Reverse Mortgage surpassed Countrywide this past month in HECMs closed YTD. Countrywide was acquired by Bank of America back in January, and it will be interesting to see if the HECM volume attributed to them continues to decline as well (so far it looks as if it has).

Finally, it is important to note that only nine lenders were highlighted because several lenders, led by 1st AAA Reverse Mortgage Inc. are clustered under Urban Financial. This group has closed between 900 and 960 leads so far this year, but is still well under Urban Financial’s totals.

Top Nine HECM Lenders by Volume – June

1. Wells Fargo

2. Bank of America

3. Financial Freedom

4. World Alliance Financial Corp.

5. Countrywide

6. One Reverse Mortgage

7. MetLife

8. Generation Mortgage

9. Urban Financial

Top Nine HECM Lenders by Volume – July

1. Wells Fargo

2. Bank of America

3. World Alliance Financial Corp.

4. Financial Freedom

5. One Reverse Mortgage

6. Countrywide

7. MetLife

8. Generation Mortgage

9. Urban Financial

The complete lender list can be found here.