The value of homes owned by Americans age 62 and over increased slightly during the second quarter of 2007, but senior home equity declined slightly, according to the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association's Reverse Mortgage Market Index (RMMI).
The RMMI showed a slight increase in senior home values, to $5.09 trillion in the second quarter from $5.07 trillion in the first quarter, but declined in outstanding senior home equity – $4.28 trillion from $4.29 trillion.
The 0.1% quarterly decline in senior home equity outstanding was driven by a slightly higher increase in the estimate of existing mortgage debt held and by Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight and Federal Reserve mild downward adjustments to first-quarter data. The RMMI declined overall to 205.1 from 205.3.
"There continues to be a substantial amount of home equity in homes headed by consumers aged 62 and over," says Peter Bell, president of NRMLA. "We fully expect the reverse mortgage products to continue to take hold as previously untapped home equity value intersects with the aging of the population over the next five to 10 years."