Reverse Mortgage Volume Up 2.9% From 2008 Despite Shaky Housing Market

The reverse mortgage industry endorsed 114,783 of Home Equity Conversion Mortgages during the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 2009 fiscal year, which ended September 30, 2009, up 2.3% compared to HUD’s 2008 fiscal year.  Considering the poor housing market and the decrease in values, the increase in reverse mortgages represents a trend too important to ignore.  The top 10 lenders share of volume for 2009 stands at 42.5%, up from the prior year, despite the higher number of lenders active in the market.  As the types of products lessen, regulation increases and the challenging economic environment forces small lenders out of the market, look for the market share of the top ten to increase.  Top 10 reverse mortgage lenders for 2009 are Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Financial Freedom, One Reverse Mortgage, World Alliance Financial Corp., Metlife Bank, Generation Mortgage Company, Security One Lending, Urban Financial Group, 1st AAA Reverse Mortgage.