Download this month’s report [pdf] View Annual Historical HECM Endorsements
2,842 HECM loans were endorsed (insured) in the month of NOVEMBER 2019 according to the latest data from Reverse Market Insight.
This report was compiled from data courtesy of Reverse Market Insight.
1 Comment
The total of 2,842 for November 2019 is 13.8% less than the HECM endorsement count for October 2019. The HECM endorsements for November 2019 are 11.3% higher than that total for November 2018. Yet despite that one exception, there has not been another November with a lower HECM endorsement count since November 2003. Except November 2018 and the two months of the government shut down in fiscal 2019 (December 2018 and January 2019), there has not been a lower endorsement count since February 2004.
When viewing the annual endorsement chart Shannon shows, what becomes apparent is that the first year of the last decade (2010) is the first of a three fiscal year decline in endorsements. Then the decline stops in fiscal 2013 and for the following five years we see slightly downward sloping, peak to valley, secular stagnation for a total of six years of that stagnation. Then fiscal 2019 drops by 35.3%,, an industry milestone. So is this the start of another decline, more years of stagnation, or years of growth? Nothing is clear just yet. We are only one-sixth the way through fiscal 2020.
The foregoing are nothing but facts. The last ten years have been years of decline with only three years of increase over the prior fiscal year. Yet all three of those years are part of the six years of downward sloping, peak to valley, secular stagnation. Reading comments of industry readers on RMD from the NRMLA Convention in Nashville, it is clear that signs of frustration are being seen on that front. It is clear our marketing techniques need an infusion but of what? Answers are easy but finding the cure is not nearly as easy as it sounds after all we have been looking for it for 10 years. Could we go even lower? Let’s hope not. But to grow in a way that will carry the industry forward requires transparency that lenders are not willing to provide. Even HUD needs to improve in that area.