Proprietary Reverse Mortgages Jump 118% in 2025

Proprietary reverse mortgages experienced a significant market share increase in 2025, driven by a substantial rise in originations and larger average loan balances. This trend was detailed in an analysis by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) using Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data, released on a Monday as the MBA's Chart of the Week. The analysis highlights that an increasing number of older Americans are opting to age in place, a demographic shift supported by U.S. Census Bureau data. Specifically, the 2024 American Community Survey indicated that homeowners aged 55 and older own 55% of all owner-occupied homes in the United States. Furthermore, households headed by individuals aged 65 or older constitute over one-third of these homes. This demographic trend coincides with a substantial increase in housing equity, which has reached nearly $35 trillion, according to Federal Reserve data. This accumulated equity provides seniors with greater opportunities to leverage their housing wealth while remaining in their homes.

The MBA's analysis specifically examined reverse mortgage originations from 2018 through 2025. It compared Federal Housing Administration-insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) with proprietary reverse mortgage products offered by private lenders. Following a period of relatively stable volume, with approximately 59,000 originations in both 2021 and 2022, the overall reverse mortgage market saw a sharp decline of 57% in 2023, resulting in 25,312 loans. During 2023, HECMs dominated this volume, accounting for 23,538 loans (93%), while proprietary reverse mortgages represented a smaller portion with 1,774 loans (7%).

In contrast to the 2023 downturn, both HECM and proprietary reverse mortgage segments showed growth in subsequent years. HECM originations experienced modest increases of 4.7% in 2024 and 0.7% in 2025. However, proprietary reverse mortgage originations demonstrated much more robust growth, surging by 81% in 2024 and escalating by an impressive 118% in 2025. This rapid expansion led proprietary products to capture 22% of all reverse mortgage originations by volume in 2025. This represents a significant increase from their 7% market share in 2023 and surpasses the 14% share recorded in 2022, when 8,359 proprietary reverse mortgages were originated. The MBA also pointed out that proprietary reverse mortgages typically come with larger loan balances compared to HECMs. Consequently, by dollar volume, these proprietary products accounted for nearly 40% of all reverse mortgage originations in 2025. The HMDA data further indicates that the total dollar volume of reverse mortgage originations in 2025 reached $5.8 billion, with proprietary products contributing a substantial portion due to their higher average loan amounts.