HECM endorsements rise to highest level since February

The reverse mortgage market appeared to recover in July after dipping in June, according to Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsement data compiled by Reverse Market Insight (RMI) that was released late last week.

HECM endorsements rose 5.6% in July to 2,369 loans, the highest level recorded since February 2025. HECMs also saw regional gains that reversed last month’s weakness, with seven of 10 regions showing gains. RMI found that the Midwest added 19.8% to 194 loans, while New England grew 19.8% to 109 loans and the Southeast/Caribbean gained 12.1% to 536 loans.

Last month, Jon McCue of RMI said that it was difficult to identify trends in HECM endorsements because the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) hadn’t released its production report since February. But the FHA recently updated the report with data through May.

“Essentially, endorsements generally trail 60 to 90 days from applications. With that said, we are most likely looking at the April application data that saw a nice increase to 3,784 applications,” McCue said. “This was most likely driven by the decrease in the 10-year CMT during that time period before it began to rise again in May.

“So the short answer is that the July rise in endorsements is most likely due to the lower 10-year CMT back in April.”

RMI reported that the top 10 lenders were “less buoyant,” with six posting an increase in endorsements during the month. Guild Mortgage, for one, jumped 43.3% to 86 loans, while Goodlife Home Loans added 33%, moving back to 117 loans to match its May total.

New View Advisors also released its July report on HECM-Mortgage Backed Securities (HMBS). Issuance grew 6% from June to a total of $541 million in June. There were 79 pools issued in July, eight more than in June.

Finance of America finished No. 1 in July with $156 million in issuance, although that was down $10 million compared to June. Longbridge Financial was No. 2 with $114 million in July, down $7 million from June. And PHH Mortgage issued $108 million, up $33 million during the month.

Joe Kelly, a partner at New View Advisors, said that HMBS issuance has remained in a “tight” range from $470 million to $598 million every month for the past year.

“HMBS monthly payoffs have also held steady for the last year, usually between $900 million and $1 billion,” Kelly said. “Mitigated by interest rate roll-up (negative amortization), HMBS float declines steadily each month by about $100 million. Small variations due to interest rate changes will not arrest this decline.”

Kelly added that New View Advisors’ guidance regarding the HECM and HMBS markets will “not materially increase” until the FHA significantly reduces the HECM program’s initial mortgage insurance premium.