California Reverse Mortgage Information Overview


1. Census Data Relevant to the California Reverse Mortgage Market. It is helpful to understand the demographic make-up of California's reverse mortgage eligible population. The following information comes from the US Census Bureau's 2005 American Community Survey.



StateMedian
Age		State
Rank		% Pop
Over 65		State
Rank		% Pop
Over 85		State
Rank		% of
Households
w/Retirement
Income		State
Rank		%
Owner
Occupied		State
Rank
CA34.44810.5481.23215.44358.451

The Census Bureau projects the senior citizen population in California will change as follows in the years ahead:


State2010
Projected
Pop.
Over 65
2010
Projected
% Pop.
Over 65		State
Rank		2030
Projected
Pop.
Over 65
2030
Projected
% Pop.
Over 65		State
Rank
CA4,392,70811.5458,288,24117.840

2. California's Home Value Growth. Home price increases are an important factor in the reverse mortgage decision. The information below comes from the quarterly Housing Price Index (HPI) published by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO). These figures indicate the average percentage gain in value for homes in California for the most recent 1-year and 5-year periods and, also, how the HPI rankings for California compare to other states. Clearly, senior homeowners in areas with strong home price appreciation and substantial accumulated home equity are more apt to consider a reverse mortgage as a supplemental source of retirement income. Figures are updated quarterly (most recent update made 2/28/08 reporting 4th Quarter 2007 results).



State1 Year %
Home Value
Increase		State
Rank		 5 Year %
Home Value
Increase		State
Rank
CA-3.085169.097

3. Section 203b Loan Limits for California. The federally-insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program has limits on the size of loan that can be insured. These are known as "203b limits" and are set by HUD for each county in each state. Click on the link below for a list of current 203b Limits for each California county.



California 203b Limits for HECM Loans by County

4. Reverse Mortgage Loan Activity in California. Since September 2001, a total of 81,417 HECM reverse mortgages have been endorsed by HUD Offices located in California. California reverse mortgage endorsements represent 22.5% of the total 361,591 reverse mortgages originated throughout the United States during this timespan.

Over the past few years, the volume of reverse mortgage originations has grown in California as well as the rest of the country. Following are HECM reverse mortgage statisitics for the period from September 2001 up to the current month (May-2008). The first chart shows the distribution of HECM loan originations by California HUD Office region and the second chart shows year-to-year HECM loan growth. Further information on HECM loan activity can be found using the HECM Data Tool.



Federal Office
Location		HECM
Loans
Sep-2001
to
May-2008
FRESNO7,866
LOS ANGELES22,150
SACRAMENTO12,706
SAN DIEGO6,928
SAN FRANCISCO11,932
SANTA ANA19,835

Calendar
Year 		HECM
Loans
Sep-2001
to
May-2008
2001452
20022,390
20034,272
200411,569
200514,719
200623,955
200718,599
20085,461

5. California Reverse Mortgage Lenders. So, who are California's top reverse mortgage lenders? The following table shows California's top 25 originators of HUD HECM loans thus far for calendar year 2008:



Top California HECM LendersHECM
Loans
2008
WELLS FARGO BANK NA1,032
COUNTRYWIDE BANK FSB246
LIBERTY REVERSE MORTGAGE INC217
FINANCIAL FREEDOM SENIOR FUNDI209
1ST SOURCE FUNDING INC188
REVERSE MORTGAGES OF CA IN137
NEW HORIZONS REVERSE MORTGAGE127
HOME CAPITAL FUNDING124
FUTURESAFE FINANCIAL CORPORATI108
SENIOR AMERICAN FUNDING INC96
SENIOR FUNDING ASSOCIATES91
GENERATION MORTGAGE COMPANY84
AMWEST CAPITAL MORTGAGE INC79
OMNI HOME FINANCING INC67
AMERICAN PACIFIC MORTGAGE52
HOME CENTER MORTGAGE47
AMERICAN SENIOR FUNDING CORPOR47
SUN WEST MORTGAGE CO INC46
STAY IN HOME MORTGAGE INC45
WSB MORTGAGE SERVICES INC42
AEGEAN FINANCIAL INC42
ONE MORTGAGE NETWORK INC38
EVERBANK REVERSE MORTGAGE LLC37
BANK OF AMERICA NA CHARLOTTE37
REVERSE MORTGAGE LENDING INC36

The table below provides a longer term view of California's top 25 lenders looking at the period from September 2001 up to the current month (May-2008). For a complete listing of California reverse mortgage lenders, use this California reverse mortgage lender directory.



Top California HECM LendersHECM
Loans
Sep-2001
to
May-2008
WELLS FARGO BANK NA19,569
FINANCIAL FREEDOM SENIOR FUNDI6,575
SEATTLE MORTGAGE COMPANY4,965
LIBERTY REVERSE MORTGAGE INC4,850
WELLS FARGO HOME MORTGAGE INC3,747
HOME CENTER MORTGAGE1,951
SENIOR FUNDING ASSOCIATES1,660
REVERSE MORTGAGES OF CA IN1,459
PACIFIC REVERSE MORTGAGE INC1,456
CALIFORNIA REVERSE MORTGAGE CO1,426
NEW HORIZONS REVERSE MORTGAGE1,417
LIBERTYSTREET FINANCIAL GROUP1,194
WWMF INC1,118
AMERICAN MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL907
FARWEST MORTGAGE BANKERS INC798
US FINANCIAL MORTGAGE CORPOR775
SCME MORTGAGE BANKERS INC715
LOAN LINK FINANCIAL SERVICES632
SENIOR AMERICAN FUNDING INC622
OMNI HOME FINANCING INC611
AMERICAN SENIOR FUNDING CORPOR558
FUTURESAFE FINANCIAL CORPORATI552
CARROLLTON MORTGAGE CO550
HOME CAPITAL FUNDING538
U S FINANCIAL MORTGAGE CORPORA510

ATTENTION REVERSE MORTGAGE LENDERS - if you are listed above as one of California's top reverse mortgage lenders, you should consider turning your listing into a clickable hyperlink that will take visitors directly to your company's website. Your "live" link will appear for every state that you rank in the top 25 lenders. Reverse-Mortgage-Information.org is one of the leading sites on the web for seniors seeking independent information about reverse mortgages. For more information, contact us .