EPISODE #860: Happy New Year!
A HECM for Purchase Success Story.
[Housing Wire]
Here’s how one Facebook post helped one couple relocate and purchase their retirement home near the coast of South Carolina…
Other Stories:
-
-
[NRMLA Online] Political change is coming but housing policy is bipartisan.
-
[Reverse Market Insight] RMI’s Market Minute with Jon McCue
-
Shannon Hicks
Editor in Chief: HECMWorld.com
As a prominent commentator and Editor in Chief at HECMWorld.com, Shannon Hicks has played a pivotal role in reshaping the conversation around reverse mortgages. His unique perspectives and deep understanding of the industry have not only educated countless readers but has also contributed to introducing practical strategies utilizing housing wealth with a reverse mortgage.
Shannon’s journey into the world of reverse mortgages began in 2002 as an originator and his prior work in the financial services industry. Shannon has been covering reverse mortgage news stories since 2008 when he launched the podcast HECMWorld Weekly. Later, in 2010 he began producing the weekly video series The Industry Leader Update and Friday’s Food for Thought.
Readers wishing to submit stories or interview requests can reach our team at: info@hecmworld.com.
1 Comment
It is interesting that the lead story was an emotional one about H4P. It was the theme of last year’s NRMLA National Convention as well. Yet H4P had less than 1,700 endorsements for all of fiscal year 2024, despite what one speaker at the Convention claimed would be a year of 5,000 H4P endorsements. Many say whatever will make their point with no sense of being accountable for their intentional false claims or perhaps far worse their indifference to facts. (Notice that in a rare move, the NRMLA Convention was held BEFORE the HECM endorsement count be released by FHA for last fiscal year. The Convention is normally held after October 1 of each year and by then FHA has released the unofficial/official HECM endorsement count for the fiscal year. Such was not the case for fiscal year 2024, a brilliant move if you do not want the really bad taste of another down year in attendees’ mouths at the Convention.)
As to NRMLA, once again we do not get a sense of positive goals that require accountability but rather a couple of things NRMLA is willing to be against. Perhaps even worse is a lack of clear policy regarding further erosion of PLFs. To be clear, a higher expected rate index is damaging to principal limits but even worse was a policy change to PLFs made by the Trump Administration that went into effect on 10/2/2017 that the industry as a whole, particularly NRMLA leadership has failed to address in almost 8 years. It is so bad that one of NRMLA’s Co-Chairmen recently declared that the HECM endorsements were most likely no worse in fiscal year 2024 than in fiscal year 2023 despite a 19.6% loss in HECM endorsements in fiscal year 2024 when compared to fiscal year 2023, once again displaying how out of touch NRMLA leadership is when it comes to the true needs of the HECM program.
As to all of the increases spoken about in the last segment, just be aware that the margin for the first quarter of HECM endorsements in fiscal year 2025 was a few hundred short of tying the worst first quarter for HECM endorsements for any fiscal year since fiscal year 2003 (22years ago). What is the worst first quarter for HECM endorsements since fiscal year 2003? Yep, fiscal year 2023 (last fiscal year).
One thing is clear from listening to the first report of calendar 2025, finding a silver lining, any silver lining is far more important than analyzing why the overall trend in our industry is going from almost 114,600 HECM endorsements in fiscal year 2009 to just over 26,500 HECM endorsements last fiscal year. Who is addressing that over all negative trend? That is the biggest issue facing the industry today. Worse, there absolutely no data supporting the position that we have experienced rock bottom even despite how bad fiscal year 2024 actually was!!!
Without much fanfare, FAR, one of the two HECM endorsement leaders in the industry recently laid off approximately 400 of its employees. That in itself speaks mounds about FAR’s pragmatic outlook for fiscal year 2025.