With only a few months left in 2016, some markets are reporting reverse mortgage volume growth as the industry heads into the final throes of the year. Much of this growth is concentrated in key western and southern U.S. states and cities.
Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsements finished the third quarter of this year with 36,280 loans year-to-date through September 2016, a decrease of 17.1% compared to the same nine-month period in 2015, according to the latest HECM Trends report from Reverse Market Insight.
Despite the fact that 2016 is poised to be one of the lowest calendar years for HECM endorsements in the last decade, certain markets have continued to show promise amid the broader industry-wide declines, with others entering new growth territory through the third quarter.
Colorado continued to post impressive growth this year with 1,396 HECM endorsements through September, representing a year-over-year increase of 30.8% from 2015.
In terms of unit count, Colorado ranked fifth overall among the top U.S. states for volume, bolstered by its largest metro, Denver, whose 314 loans comprise approximately 22% of the state’s endorsement volume and signal a 52.4% year-over-year growth.
Washington was the only other state to report an increase in reverse mortgage volume over last year. Through September, the state’s 1,042 endorsements are 2.2% higher than the comparable period in 2015.
The first nine months of 2016 also saw big year-over-year declines among many of the top states on the east coast, including New York (-35.6%), Pennsylvania (-36.9%) and New Jersey (-35.7%).
Texas, however, though it reported a 9.9% decrease in 2016 through September compared to last year, saw some growth in the Houston and Austin markets. Year-to-date, Houston reported 304 total endorsements for an increase of 3.4% year-over-year, while Austin totaled 172 units for a growth of 21.1%.
Together, Houston and Austin account for 17.2% of Texas’ HECM endorsement volume in 2016 through September.
See where other states, cities and counties rank through the first three quarters of 2016.
See where other states, cities and counties rank through the first three quarters of 2016 here.
Written by Jason Oliva
