Finance of America widens lead as top HECM lender in June

Finance of America (FOA) remained the top Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) lender in June 2026 as overall direct retail endorsements increased modestly from May but continued to trail last year’s pace, according to a HECMWorld.com report released Wednesday using data from Reverse Market Insight (RMI).

The top 100 HECM retail lenders logged 2,064 loans in June, up 6% from the prior month but down 9.8% year to date.

FOA closed 481 HECMs in June and has 2,498 through the first half of the year, representing a 23.3% market share. Company volume rose 18.2% from May even as year-to-date production remained 10.8% below the same period last year.

Longbridge Financial ranked second with 407 endorsements in June and 2,101 year to date, good for a 19.7% market share. Its monthly volume increased 14% from May and is essentially flat year to date, down 0.3% from 2025 levels.

Mutual of Omaha Mortgage held the No. 3 spot with 398 June endorsements and 2,567 year to date, equal to 19.3% of the retail market. Its June volume declined 5.9% from May and is down 12.6% year to date.

Fairway Home Mortgage was No. 4 with 112 loans in June and 391 year to date, equating to a share of 5.4%. Fairway’s monthly volume more than tripled from May, up 202.7%, but remains 28.3% lower than the same period last year.

South River Mortgage rounded out the top five with 74 endorsements in June, upping its first-half total to 450, equal to a 3.6% market share. Its production was flat month over month and up 9.5% from last year to date.

The remainder of the top 10 for June included Traditional Mortgage Acceptance Corp. (TMAC), dba GoodLife Home Loans, at 61 endorsements; Guild Mortgage at 49; Plaza Home Mortgage at 37; New American Funding (NAF) at 34; and HighTechLending (HTL) at 32.

NAF and HTL posted some of the strongest monthly gains among all lenders, growing their endorsements by 36% and 39%, respectively, even as volumes for both companies remain down year to date.

Overall, the top 10 lenders accounted for the vast majority of HECM retail volume in June, highlighting continued consolidation in the reverse mortgage market. Smaller lenders and depositories, such as regional banks and credit unions, appear mostly in the lower half of the rankings, with many logging only one or two endorsements for the month.

The report underscores that while HECM demand is stabilizing, higher mortgage rates, tighter Federal Housing Administration (FHA) underwriting scrutiny and ongoing reputational concerns continue to limit growth compared with earlier cycles.

Lenders with established reverse platforms and distribution networks — particularly Finance of America, Longbridge and Mutual of Omaha — are capturing most of the available volume, which may influence how forward-focused lenders evaluate whether to invest in or expand HECM operations.

The HECMWorld report and RMI data covers only direct FHA endorsements and excludes brokered and TPO originations, which RMI tracks in a separate report.

HMBS issuance falls to $456M in June, near historic lows

HECM Mortgage-Backed Securities (HMBS) issuance fell to $456 million in June, down from $500 million in May and well below year-ago levels, according to a New View Advisors analysis of Ginnie Mae data.

The June total was $44 million lower than May and $54 million lower than June 2025’s figure of $510 million. Only 57 pools were issued in June, six fewer than in May. New View said June 2026 ranks as roughly as the 10th lowest month for HMBS issuance since the program began in 2009 and is the second weakest June during that period.

Finance of America was the top issuer in June with $179 million in HMBS, up from $171 million in May. Longbridge followed with $132 million, down $1 million from the prior month. Mutual of Omaha issued $92 million, a $5 million decline from May.

Onity Mortgage Corp.’s issuance dropped sharply to $10 million in June, $38 million less than in May. New View said the decline likely reflects Onity’s sale of HMBS mortgage servicing rights to FOA.

Ginnie Mae/RMF, or “Issuer 42,” again issued no HMBS pools, a trend that began not long after Ginnie assumed control of the RMF portfolio following the lender’s bankruptcy in late 2022.

Original, or first-participation, HMBS production totaled $290 million in June. That was $50 million lower than both May and April — and $60 million below June 2025’s figure of $350 million.

For the first half of 2026, FOA was the top first-participation issuer with $581 million. Longbridge followed with $516 million, Mutual of Omaha with $369 million and Onity with $150 million. Onity did not issue any first-participation pools in June.

Of the 57 pools issued in June, 14 were first-participation pools, 40 were tail pools and three included a mix of first participations and tails. Original pools are backed by first participations in previously uncertificated HECM loans, while tail pools are made up of subsequent participations. Tails do not represent new loans but do reflect additional funds advanced on existing reverse mortgages.

Tail issuance in June totaled $162 million, down from $169 million in May.

New View noted that 12 pools in June had an aggregate size of less than $1 million as issuers utilized Ginnie Mae’s rule allowing pools as small as $250,000. Those small pools represented $6.5 million in unpaid principal balance that might not have been securitized without the flexibility.

Ginnie Mae’s 2023 All Participants Memorandum APM 23-11, which allows multiple participations from the same HECM loan to be pooled more than once in a month, also continued to shape issuance. In June, $62.2 million of participations involved more than one participation from the same loan, including $6.2 million of first participations.

For reverse mortgage lenders and issuers, the June figures underscore that HMBS liquidity remains fragile even with program flexibilities. Persistent low first-participation volume signals muted new HECM production, while concentration among a few large issuers and the absence of Ginnie Mae/RMF issuance keep market risk elevated.

This article was written by Neil Pierson and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation, then reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.