FHA insured 1,917 new reverse mortgages in August 2026 through its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program, down from 2,034 in July. For fiscal year 2026 through August, endorsements totaled 22,374, 13.7% fewer than the 25,938 in the same period of fiscal 2025. Fiscal 2025 ended with 28,149.
Applications point the same way. Lenders received 2,779 HECM applications in August 2026, down from 3,153 in August 2025 and 3,685 in August 2024.
Who takes out a reverse mortgage
A HECM lets a homeowner 62 or older borrow against home equity with no monthly payment; the loan is repaid when the borrower moves, sells or dies. Most borrowers use it to take cash out of a home they already own: 86.1% of August endorsements were traditional equity takeouts, 8.7% were refinances of an earlier reverse mortgage and 5.2% were used to buy a home. Nearly all, 100% in August, carried adjustable rates. Single women made up 42.1% of borrowers, the largest group, and 44.2% of borrowers were in their 70s.
At the end of August, FHA insured 264,727 HECMs with a combined maximum claim amount of $114.3 billion.
Endorsements by type and borrower
| Group | Aug 2026 | Jul 2026 | FY2026 to date | FY2025 to date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home purchase | 5.2% | 6.4% | 5.5% | 5.5% |
| Refinance | 8.7% | 9.5% | 10.9% | 11.0% |
| Equity takeout (traditional) | 86.1% | 84.0% | 83.5% | 83.6% |
| Age 62-69 | 28.9% | 28.9% | 29.3% | 28.9% |
| Age 70-79 | 44.2% | 45.2% | 45.1% | 45.3% |
| Age 80-89 | 22.4% | 21.3% | 21.2% | 21.5% |
| Age 90+ | 4.5% | 4.6% | 4.4% | 4.2% |
| Single women | 42.1% | 43.0% | 42.2% | 41.3% |
| Single men | 24.0% | 24.3% | 23.5% | 22.9% |
| Joint borrowers | 31.8% | 31.0% | 31.6% | 32.4% |
Monthly applications
| Month | HECM applications | Change from a year earlier |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 2026 | 2,779 | -11.9% |
| Jul 2026 | 3,095 | -9.8% |
| Jun 2026 | 2,969 | -1.7% |
| May 2026 | 3,098 | -8.1% |
| Apr 2026 | 3,316 | -12.4% |
| Mar 2026 | 3,484 | +2.7% |
| Feb 2026 | 3,015 | +3.8% |
| Jan 2026 | 2,639 | -8.7% |
| Dec 2025 | 2,808 | -1.7% |
| Nov 2025 | 2,789 | -8.8% |
| Oct 2025 | 3,651 | -15.7% |
| Sep 2025 | 3,327 | -10.2% |
| Aug 2025 | 3,153 | -14.4% |
| Jul 2025 | 3,431 | -0.2% |
| Jun 2025 | 3,021 | +2.7% |
| May 2025 | 3,372 | +4.9% |
| Apr 2025 | 3,784 | +8.5% |
| Mar 2025 | 3,394 | -3.1% |
| Feb 2025 | 2,904 | -10.3% |
| Jan 2025 | 2,890 | -1.2% |
Endorsements are loans FHA has insured; applications are case numbers assigned when a lender starts a HECM. FHA's fiscal year runs October through September. Shares are of endorsements in each period. HUD does not publish these monthly figures by state in this report. Fixed-rate HECMs require a single lump-sum draw, which is why they are rare.
Source
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Housing, FHA Single Family Production Report, August 2026 (Tables 6, 7 and 8), retrieved October 24, 2026. U.S. government data in the public domain. Our tables are available under CC BY 4.0. Credit "My Credit Guide (mycreditguide.org)".
Steven Reynolds, "Reverse Mortgage (HECM) Endorsements and Applications, 2026," My Credit Guide, October 24, 2026, https://mycreditguide.org/data/reverse-mortgage-endorsements/.