September saw further reductions in the market for federally insured reverse mortgages, with Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsements falling by 6.7%. Additionally, HECM Mortgage-Backed Securities (HMBS) issuance declined by 17% compared to the previous month.
The latest monthly HECM data released on Thursday by Reverse Market Insight (RMI) indicated that there were 1,790 endorsements in September, a decline from 1,919 in August and the lowest figure recorded since April 2020.
According to RMI’s report, case numbers—indicating submitted applications for new HECM loans—were consistently around 3,000 per month from May to July. However, many applicants did not complete the process, leading to a decrease in closed-loan endorsements in the following months.
The leading lenders for September included Finance of America with 408 endorsements, Mutual of Omaha Mortgage at 366, Longbridge Financial with 342, along with Fairway Home Mortgage (65) and South River Mortgage at 63 endorsements.
For the first three quarters of the year, Finance of America (FOA) strengthened its position with a total of 3,838 endorsements, followed by Mutual of Omaha (3,709), Longbridge (3,151), Goodlife (806), and South River (634).
When comparing the first nine months of 2026 to the same timeframe the previous year, Longbridge and South River reported slight increases of 1% and 5% in endorsements, respectively. In contrast, other top lenders experienced declines ranging from 6% to 24%.
The combined market share of the “Big 3”—FOA, Mutual of Omaha, and Longbridge—rose to 59.1% during the first three quarters of this year, up from 55.9% during the same period in 2025.
In the lower rankings, Movement Mortgage doubled its production from 17 loans in August to 35 in September, while Plaza Home Mortgage increased its endorsements from 28 to 41 during the month.
In his weekly “Ribler on Rates” video series, Dan Ribler, vice president of capital markets and strategy at Longbridge, discussed the ongoing difficulties posed by inflation and mortgage rates for all lenders. He highlighted that the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index for August indicated an annual inflation rate of 3.4% or 3% when excluding volatile food and energy prices.
“We’re witnessing a response in the bond market characterized by a bull steepener, where yields on the front end of the curve are declining, while 10-year yields remain largely unchanged,” Ribler noted. “This is logical, as cooling inflation data suggests a reduced likelihood for the Fed to raise rates in the near future.”
Insights on HMBS Issuance
New View Advisors also published HMBS data for September on Thursday, based on its analysis of issuance from Ginnie Mae and private sources. The data showed that the total volume for September reached $446 million, marking a decrease of $91 million (17%) compared to August. However, 70 pools were issued in September, an increase from 65 in August.
FOA was the leading issuer in September with $175 million, although this was down from $257 million in the previous month. Longbridge ($134 million) and Mutual of Omaha ($92 million) experienced only minor reductions in volume during the month.
First-participation pool production in September fell to $266 million, down from $309 million in August and $313 million in September 2025. New View cautioned that “issuers may find it challenging to sustain this production rate with the 10-year Treasury yield at its highest level since 2002.”
Throughout the first three quarters of this year, FOA led with $917 million in first-participation issuance, followed by Longbridge at $790 million, Mutual of Omaha with $546 million, and Onity Mortgage Corp. at $151 million. Onity, which transferred some reverse mortgage servicing rights to FOA earlier this summer, did not issue any first-participation pools in September.
New View also pointed out that the 70 pools issued last month encompassed 17 first-participation pools, 50 tail pools, and three pools that included both. Tail pools, which do not contain new loans but represent new amounts lent, saw their volume decrease from $227 million in August to $179 million in September.
Considering all pool participations, FOA led the issuance with $1.561 billion across 215 pools in the first nine months of the year. Longbridge followed with $1.184 billion, Mutual of Omaha with $817 million, Onity with $361 million, and Goodlife with $195 million.
Additionally, September saw 23 pools issued with an aggregate size of less than $1 million, due to a Ginnie Mae provision allowing pools as small as $250,000. This accounts for $12.7 million of unpaid principal balance that might not have otherwise been issued this past month, according to New View.
Michael McCully, a partner at New View, recently conveyed to HousingWire‘s Reverse Mortgage Daily that the secondary market for reverse mortgages “is functioning very well,” but the slowdown in new issuances is related to reduced originations.
“The issue is that the HECM product has become so secure—it’s like a ‘belt-and-suspenders’ product now—leading to stagnation in origination,” McCully remarked.
