Home equity among Americans aged 62 and over stood at $3.14 trillion as of the end of the second quarter, according to new data from the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA)/RiskSpan Reverse Mortgage Market Index (RMMI).
The RMMI continued its slide in the second quarter, falling by 2% to an index level of 149.9, its lowest level since the second quarter of 2004. In the second quarter, housing prices in 340 of the 395 metropolitan statistical areas saw quarter-over-quarter declines, sending aggregate senior housing values down 1.6% to $4.16 trillion.
The NRMLA also found that senior mortgage debt levels fell for the ninth straight quarter to $1.02 trillion, leaving seniors with $3.14 trillion in equity – $63 billion lower than in the first quarter.
The RMMI reflects the current value of home equity owned by seniors relative to the level observed in the first quarter of 2000, the index's base period.