The federally insured reverse mortgage market posted a rebound in October, but activity remained at historically low levels compared to the past decade, according to data compiled by Reverse Market Insight (RMI) and published Friday by HECMWorld.com.
Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsements rose to 1,995 in October, an 11% increase from September and the highest level in three months, the data shows. But even with the gain, this was the lowest figure for the month of October in at least 10 years.
Year to date, endorsements are about 3.19% below last year’s level — but comparisons are complicated by the federal government shutdown in October 2025, which disrupted activity and reporting.
Finance of America Reverse (FOA) remained the top HECM lender in October with 460 endorsements, followed by Longbridge Financial with 362 and Mutual of Omaha Mortgage with 332. Goodlife Home Loans posted 110 endorsements and Fairway Home Mortgage recorded 67.
Longbridge and Mutual of Omaha switched positions from September, and Goodlife jumped three spots by originating 62 more HECMs compared to the prior month. The top three lenders accounted for about 63% of all HECM endorsements in October, underscoring how concentrated the reverse mortgage business has become.
The number of active lenders with more than one HECM endorsement improved, rising to 75 in October from 63 in September.
From January through October, FOA widened its lead with 4,398 endorsements. Mutual of Omaha ranked second with 4,041, followed by Longbridge at 3,513, Goodlife at 916 and South River Mortgage at 692.
HMBS issuance
While endorsements increased, securitization volume moved in the opposite direction. HECM Mortgage-Backed Securities (HMBS) issuance in October was down 16% from September.
New View Advisors, citing its analysis of data from Ginnie Mae and private sources, reported that October HMBS issuance totaled $419 million, a decline of $27 million from September. There were 61 pools issued in October, nine fewer than in September.
FOA led all issuers in October with $180 million in HMBS issuance, up from $175 million in September. Longbridge and Mutual of Omaha saw month-over-month declines, issuing $116 million and $76 million, respectively.
First-participation pool production dropped to $238 million in October, down $28 million from September and $97 million from October 2025. New View said issuers “continue to struggle with the 10-year Treasury yield near 5%.”
From January to October, FOA was the top first-participation HMBS issuer with $1.01 billion of issuance, according to New View. Longbridge followed at $863 million and Mutual of Omaha at $593 million.
In October, the 61 HMBS pools consisted of 14 first-participation pools and 47 tail pools. New View also highlighted the ongoing use of very small pools as 18 of the October pools had an aggregate size below $1 million, totaling $10.8 million of unpaid principal balance that might not otherwise have been issued.
