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40 AMERICANS PRIORITIZING BUYING According to a study on homebuyers by NerdWallet, a personal finance website, 75 percent Americans say that buying a home was a priority for them. NerdWallet analyzed data of more than 2,000 adults surveyed, the company's mortgage calculator, data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and other sources to develop the study on current home buying sentiments, concerns, and outlook. e study found that most Americans considered buying a home as a good investment with 64 percent of the people surveyed citing this as a reason to buy a home. And it's not only the older generation that feels this way. Around 56 percent millennials felt that they would rather own a home that appreciated in value than have more money in retirement savings, reflecting the sentiment of 52 percent of the overall people surveyed. In fact, according to the survey, 82 percent millennials said that buying a home was a priority compared with 75 percent of generation X and 69 percent of baby boomers. Millennials also aspired to buy more homes, on average throughout their lifetime and were most likely to say that they would like to buy a home to rent out for extra income. However, the costs for purchasing a home are a top concern for most Americans who rent. ough 91 percent of the people surveyed said that they would like to own at least one home in their lifetime, 88 percent of current renters had concerns about purchasing one due to the associated financial costs. e survey also found 35 percent reported that they were currently renting their primary residence, but only 17 percent said they preferred renting to owning regardless of their current living situation. Renters with home buying concerns also cited the mortgage application process as what kept them from buying a home with 28 percent saying they were concerned about this process. Loan servicing, payments, modification, and collections were some of the pet peeves of homebuyers against mortgage lenders. According to the survey that analyzed data from CFPB, approximately 3,338 complaints filed with CFPB related specifically to the mortgage application or underwriting processes in 2017. However, thousands were directly related to getting a mortgage in the first place. When it came to down payment, the survey, using NerdWallet's mortgage calculator data indicated potential buyers intend to put down approximately 20 percent towards the down payment of a home. REVERSE MORTGAGES EXPERIENCE NEW HIGH Reverse mortgage numbers spiked in January 2018, clocking in a 32.5 percent month- over-month growth in endorsements over December 2017, according to the latest data from Reverse Market Insight, Inc. (RMI). at would be noteworthy in and of itself, but that January increase also marked the best month for the reverse mortgage industry since March 2011, with Federal Housing Administration-approved (FHA) reverse mortgage lenders logging 6,313 endorsements in January. Reverse Market Insight also notes that January saw 48 new lenders enter the reverse mortgage lending field. For comparison's sake, RMI reported 4,765 reverse mortgage endorsements in December 2017; 4,837 in June 2017; and 4,426 in February 2017. Reverse Mortgage Daily points out that some of this bump is due to changes made by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in October 2017, which "instituted lower principal limits and a new mortgage insurance premium structure." RMI suggests the surge of applicants trying to beat that deadline has given the reverse mortgage numbers a bump that will diminish in the months to come. RMI's analysis predicts that a reverse mortgage dropoff is likely on the horizon. e RMI analysis states, "We'll see next month if that's the peak endorsement month for this latest product change, but we already know subsequent volume will be greatly reduced given the much lower application and case numbers issued figures after September." How much of a decline could be coming? RMI President John Lunde told Reverse Mortgage Daily in January that he believed endorsement volume for reverse mortgages could plummet by 25 percent to 30 percent. According to RMI, FHA-approved lenders logged 56,912 endorsements during the calendar year 2017, up significantly over 48,794 in 2016. e top reverse mortgage lenders include American Advisors Group (13,033 endorsements between February 2017 and January 2018), Finance of America Reverse LLC (5,676 endorsements), Reverse Mortgage Funding LLC (4,783 endorsements), Liberty Home Equity Solutions Inc. (3,853 endorsements), and Synergy One Lending Inc. (3,471 endorsements).