The Australian Reverse Mortgage Industry body, SEQUAL, has released data for the six months to June 2008 which shows that there is now $2.3 billion in outstanding reverse mortgage loans. This represents 14% growth over the last 6 months, and 27% over the last 12 months.
There were more than 3,500 new reverse mortgages written in the first six months of 2008 which, when combined with the size of each loan growing from $60,000 to $63,000, underpinned the growth of the sector.
Kevin Conlon, CEO of SEQUAL said, ” The first half of the year to June 2008 has seen sustained market growth. The slowing in the settlements we noted in the second half of 2007 has continued due to a combination of tighter availability of funds impacting some lenders, and the current economic uncertainty.
“However, there is still borrower demand for reverse mortgages, showing that senior Australians are increasingly using reverse mortgages to release some of the significant wealth they have accumulated through property ownership, in order to live the life that they choose in retirement,” he explained.