Reverse mortgage volume dropped 5.7% industry-wide in January, with wholesale and retail experiencing similar declines.
According to the latest data from Reverse Market Insight, the wholesale channel fared best with a 5.3% dip, while retail declined 6%.
In all, the industry closed 1,649 loans that month.
Preliminary February data has already revealed that volume rebounds significantly the following month with a 143% jump, but RMI said that was likely the result of delayed endorsements after the government shutdown brought business to a halt.
Instead, the analytics firm looked at three-month averages to estimate that February’s true volume was more likely a 13.2% decline.
The past few months have seen reverse mortgage volume take a beating as the industry continues to struggle to find its footing in the wake of program changes.
In December, it was down 31.4%, while November saw volume decline 17.4%.
So perhaps, in that context, January’s 5.7% dip isn’t so bad.
Among the top 10 lenders, four saw their volume increase month over month.
HighTechLending, who spoke to HousingWire in August about the investment it made into creating an internal lead gen strategy, was the standout with a 513% jump.
Liberty Home Equity Solutions followed with a 31.4% increase. American Advisors Group came in third with 12.3% and Live Well Financial was next with 12.3%.
