The amount of home equity held by homeowners 62 and older continued to exceed record levels during the first quarter of 2021, increasing the potential opportunity for reverse mortgages to over $9 trillion.
Senior homeowners gained $304 billion in housing wealth in Q1 2021, up 3.4% from Q4 2020, according to the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association. The aggregate value of senior home equity now totals $9.23 trillion.
The gain was driven by an estimated $329 billion (3%) increase in home values, offset by a $23.9 billion (1.2%) increase in senior-held mortgage debt. As a result, the NRMLA/RiskSpan Reverse Mortgage Market Index (RMMI) climbed to 322.89 in the first quarter, reaching a new peak since the index was first published in 2000.