U.S. reverse mortgage endorsements declined slightly in April as proprietary products continued to gain traction in parts of the market, according to data released on May 1 by Reverse Market Insight (RMI).
Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsements fell 1.4% from March to 2,088 loans in April, reflecting continued pressure on the government-backed reverse mortgage program as private lenders expand their offerings.
The regional breakdown of endorsement activity suggests proprietary reverse mortgages are increasingly influencing market dynamics. Four of the 10 regions tracked posted month-over-month growth in April, but only two — the Great Plains and Mid-Atlantic regions — recorded year-to-date gains in HECM endorsements.
Those regions include several states where proprietary reverse mortgage products remain limited or unavailable, including Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia.
“In looking at eight currently available proprietary RM products, there is a distinct relationship between HECM growth rates and proprietary product availability,” RMI wrote in its HECM newsletter.
Of the top 10 HECM lenders, six recorded increases month-over-month. Mutual of Omaha led the pack with 497 endorsements in April and was followed by Finance of America (394 endorsements) and Longbridge Financial (367 endorsements).
HMBS issuance rises but still historically subdued
Issuance of HECM Mortgage-Backed Securities, or HMBS, totaled $525 million in April, up from $441 million in March but slightly below the $535 million issued in April 2025. A total of 67 pools were issued during the month, one more than in March, according to data from New View Advisors.
April’s issuance ranked around 20th among monthly HMBS issuance totals since 2009, though only three Aprils during that period posted lower volumes.
Finance of America was again the top HMBS issuer in April with $170 million, up $32 million from March. Longbridge Financial followed with $147 million, an increase of $33 million, while Mutual of Omaha Mortgage issued $98 million, up $17 million from the prior month. Onity Mortgage Corp., formerly PHH Mortgage, issued $59 million, unchanged from March.
Ginnie Mae/Reverse Mortgage Funding, known in the market as “Issuer 42,” again issued no HMBS pools.
Original, or “first participation,” production totaled $330 million in April, up $70 million from both February and March but down $15 million from April 2025. For the first four months of 2026, Finance of America led first participation HMBS issuance with $358 million, followed by Longbridge at $336 million, Mutual of Omaha at $241 million and Onity at $132 million.
Of the 67 pools issued in April, 18 were first participation pools, 47 were tail pools and two included both first participations and tails. Tail pool issuance, which represents subsequent participations rather than new loans, totaled $194 million in April, up from $181 million in March.
Nineteen pools issued in April had aggregate sizes below $1 million, reflecting issuers’ continued use of Ginnie Mae provisions allowing pools as small as $250,000. Those smaller pools accounted for $12.1 million in unpaid principal balance that may not otherwise have been issued during the month.
Data compiled by New View Advisors also showed $69.1 million in participations pooled in April involved multiple participations from the same loan during the same month, including $7.8 million in first participations.
