Senior Equity Hits Seven-Year High

The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA)/RiskSpan Reverse Mortgage Market Index (RMMI), a quarterly measure which analyzes trends in the home values, home equity, and mortgage debt of homeowners 62 and older, has reached 178.91, its highest level since Q4 2007. The RMMI is updated quarterly and tracks back to the start of 2000. Americans 62 years old and older now have more equity in their homes than at any time since early 2008. Collective home equity of Americans 62 and older has grown by more than 22 percent since the second quarter of 2012, to a total of $3.73 trillion. The $125.2 billion increase in senior home equity in the second quarter was the largest quarterly increase in equity since the third quarter of 2005. Seventy-seven percent of equity in the households of American seniors is paid. Mortgage debt held by Americans 62 and older stands at $1.08 trillion, a figure which has held steady over the past three quarters. Senior mortgage debt peaked at $1.143 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2009. In the second quarter of 2014, the RMMI reached 178.91. The RMMI has risen for nine consecutive quarters. The senior housing value estimate is based on the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Q2 2014 all-transactions Indices.