What is a Reverse Mortgage?
Like many Australians, your home is probably your largest assett and your greatest investment to date. This is why it is important to understand what a reverse mortgage is, as one day you may wish to engage in a reverse mortgage to unleash your homes equity before you sell.
Reverse mortgages represent a small fraction of the mortgage market. But they’re growing fast because of a tantalizing advantage: They let seniors with small nest eggs tap equity in their homes for cash, without having to repay the loans as long as they stay in the homes. As the oldest baby boomers turn 62 this year, they’re likely to face high-pressure pitches for reverse mortgages.
Reverse mortgages are designed to enable elderly homeowners to unlock illiquid wealth tied up in their housing equity to generate income. The elderly borrow against the value of their homes. However, no repayments are made until the house is sold or the elderly borrower dies.
Elderly homeowners who are likely to receive the largest gains from reverse mortgages are very elderly, single, female and have significant housing equity. However, in areas with slow house price appreciation rates elderly homeowners who enter into reverse mortgages face the risk of being left with little housing equity to draw on when needed or to bequeath to their beneficiaries when they pass away.
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