After an auspicious start to the new year with a 32% gain in January, the number of reverse mortgage endorsements dropped 6.9% last month. This was recently reported by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

There were 4,839 HECM loans issued in February — which is considered above average — but below the 5,189 endorsements in January, which was the highest monthly volume since February 2012.

In the New York/New Jersey area, there were 459 loans in February, which is down from 523 the previous month and 546 in March 2012, according to data from Reverse Market Insight, Inc.