The value and equity in residential properties owned by seniors increased in 1Q13 over 4Q12 while at the same time the mortgage debt owed decreased, according to the latest NRMLA/RiskSpan Reverse Mortgage Market Index.
“Today’s report continues a positive trend for the American housing market and for senior homeowners. With home values recovering and equity increasing, seniors will have more financial resources available to them during retirement,” said Peter Bell, president of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association.
For 1Q13, the index was 154.95, an increase of 1.55% from
As of March 31, seniors, which for this report are defined as those 62 or older, held $3.25 trillion in home equity and had properties worth $4.32 trillion. Meanwhile their mortgage debt shrunk to $1.07 trillion, the lowest level since 2007. Two years prior it was $1.11 trillion.
The RMMI peaked at 191.21 in the fourth quarter of 2006, when the home equity held by Americans 62 and older reached its highest level of $4.0 trillion.
This data is based on the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s 1Q13 all-transactions indices, which saw housing values increase in 53% of the 395 MSAs covered by RiskSpan.
