Outstanding senior home equity remains solidMortgagePress.comNational Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association, AARP, reverse mortgages
In spite of current home market lull, senior home equity
is still in trillions
Consistent with current market conditions, senior home equity
declined by $27 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007, as measured
by the National Reverse
Mortgage Lenders Association/Hollister Reverse Mortgage Market
Index (NRMLA/RMMI) Report. The consecutive quarter decline is
attributable to the recent dip in overall home values across the
nation.
As senior home equity depreciation accelerated, the NRMLA/RMMI
index fell to 201.9 in the fourth quarter of 2007 from a revised
third quarter of 2007 level of 203.2. Despite this drop, the
overall equity held by senior homeowners aged 62 years of age and
older remains strong at $4.22 trillion dollars. "The long-term
prospect for this market continues to be very strong, as an
increasing number of baby boomers are wishing to remain in their
homes and are in greater need of additional funds in their
retirement years," stated Peter Bell, chief executive officer of
NRMLA. "A 2005 study by the National Council on Aging estimated the
potential market demand for reverse mortgages at 13.2 million older
households. With such market potential, there is a prevailing
long-term confidence in the reverse mortgage market."
With the U.S. demographic shifting upward and statistics such as
the 2006 AARP study showing that 90 percent of Americans 60 years
of age and older wish to continue to stay in their home or
community, reverse mortgages are increasingly seen as a positive
market mechanism to accomplish this.
For more information, visit www.nrmlaonline.org.
