Reverse mortgages may be picking up some increased interest soon in India, as talks between the National Housing Bank (NH and government-owned Corporation Bank are ongoing, India’s Financial Chronicle reported Monday. NHB has already partnered with Life Insurance Corporation of India in order to develop a reverse mortgage product, the report states.

Reverse mortgage products already in the market in India have seen success in specific regions including the southern, western and parts of the northern part of the country, the article states. “Although people are still a little reluctant to mortgage their property in small towns, people in big cities, especially, senior citizens are looking forward to a product that assures them a steady source of funds,” it says. Currently, 10 banks and four housing finance institutions offer reverse mortgages there, with Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance being the only life insurance company to offer reverse mortgages, the article states.

“We expect the MoU (memorandum of understanding) to be signed very soon after which the product can be launched,” said R V Verma, chairman and managing director of National Housing Bank, according to the article.

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Retirees use the words “hopeful” and “peaceful” to describe retirement rather than “confident” or “overwhelmed,” according to a study conducted by MIT and The Hartford, conducted in October and released in December.

Of retirees surveyed by The Hartford and MIT’s AgeLab in its Age of Opportunity study, 27% said they feel peaceful about retirement versus 11% of pre-retirees who shared the same sentiment.

The study also asked about expected activities in retirement, finding that retirees expect to travel more (32%); spend more time with family (44%); relax, read and watch TV more (38%); and work part time (9%).

Overwhelmingly, retirees and pre-retirees said that a healthy retirement is more important than a wealthy one, with 80% of retirees saying they want to live as long as they are healthy, versus wanting to live as long as they have money. Nearly all respondents agreed with the statement “being healthy after retirement is my number one concern.”

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Unless there are significant changes in how communities are constructed and what services are offered, many older adults will find it increasingly difficult to live in their communities and may have to consider institutional care, says an AARP state survey on Aging in Place, and that’s why it’s important to enact state policies that encourage aging-in-place initiatives.

“The great majority of older adults have a strong desire to live in thier own homes and communities,” says AARP. “However, unsupportive community design, unaffordable and inaccessible housing, and a lack of access to needed services can thwart this desire. Starting in 2011, growth of the older American population will accelerate, in part because the leading edge of the baby boomer generation will reach age 65.”

Policies for affordable housing, transportation, and land use (which can help older adults live closer to or within walking distance of the services they need) are the three major components AARP lists as ways states can enable aging in place.

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Reverse mortgage lenders in Puerto Rico say they are only scratching the surface of the industry, as stable home values, high homeownership rates, and a significant number of senior homeowners contribute to ideal conditions for a ripe reverse market. While two companies, Senior Mortgage Bankers and Money House, currently dominate the reverse mortgage scene, others, including U.S.-based reverse lender Generation Mortgage, are eager to get in on the action.

Joseph Levis, president of top-20 lender Senior Mortgage Bankers, says his company is only scratching the surface of the industry and that there’s still a huge market to be gained. And both Levis and Generation Mortgage’s Luis Alberto De Jesús Solís, who manages Generation’s newly-opened Puerto Rican branch, cite a more stable home market as a key reason for thriving business.

“In the case of home values, I think that in comparison to most of the states, values here are a little more steady, especially in home prices that range from $75,000 to $250,000 that are the great majority of reverse mortgages in Puerto Rico,” says Levis.

Last month, Generation became the first Top-10 reverse mortgage lender to open a retail branch in Puerto Rico, and Solís says that so far, the response has been very positive. Solís, who came to Generation from a career with Senior Mortgage Bankers, says this is partly because Puerto Rican home values weren’t hit as hard as those in the States.

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Homeownership rates may have bottomed out, but they may see a slight future decrease before rebounding, says a study by the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Research Institute for Housing America. U.S. homeownership has dropped from its all-time high of 69.2% in 2004 to 66.4% in Q1 2011, a drop which the study describes as falling from an unsustainable level to something closer to historical averages.

The homeownership rate increase was most pronounced among the under-30 age group, and coincided with looser credit conditions and less-risk averse buyers, the study found.

“The question of why homeownership rates are falling now is really a question of why they were so high during the middle of the last decade,” said Stuart Gabriel of UCLA’s Anderson School, and one of the study authors. “From the late 1960s to the mid-1990s, U.S. homeownership rates were relatively stable between 64 and 65%. Our findings suggest that the boom and bust in homeownership rates over the last decade was driven in part by an initial relaxation of credit standards followed by a tightening of credit with the onset of the 2007 financial crash.”

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A recent Sun Life Financial survey found that a growing number of Americans aged 50 and older are concerned about future long term care, Sun Life Financial Inc. recently revealed. This prompted the corporation to introduce Sun Care Whole Life (WL), which it describes as a single premium whole life insurance policy with a linked benefit that owners can apply to long-term care costs, including for in-home care, assisted living, and nursing home facilities.

The policy, which is currently available in 39 states, may provide a long-term care benefit equivalent to as much as three to seven times the value of the policy owner’s single premium, depending on factors such as the riders selected, age, gender, and smoking status, says Sun Life Financial.

“According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, an estimated 70% of people over 65 will eventually need long-term care, often for daily activities, such as eating, bathing, or getting dressed,” Janet Whitehouse, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Sun Life’s Individual Life Insurance Division, said in a statement. “We want to help people prepare, so if they ever need long-term care—they have more freedom to pick the level of care that suits their needs, and the costs don’t have to erode their retirement savings or estate assets.”

The policy will also provide an income tax-free death benefit for beneficiaries of policy holders who pass away without using their long-term care benefits. And, if the policy holder so chooses, Sun Care WL also offers an optional return-of-premium feature, for an additional fee, which would allow the insured to recoup the value of their original premium.

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Bank of East Asia will serve as a pilot bank in a reverse mortgage program launching in Hong Kong, the company announced today. The program, introduced by the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation, has begun to accept reverse mortgage applications, following a signing ceremony held by the HKMC.

“We are pleased to announce BEA’s participation in the Reverse Mortgage Programme as a pilot bank,” said Adrian Li, deputy chief executive of the Bank of East Asia. “We fully support the Programme, which provides eligible homeowners with a ready source of additional funds to meet their ongoing financial needs,” he added.

Across Europe and Asia, several countries have recently explored options and have launched programs for reverse mortgages, including Poland earlier this year and Korea, which has seen an increase in reverse mortgage volume in 2011.

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Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, faces a Sisyphean task because US banks are experiencing debt deflation and, because lending is now at much lower levels, monetary deflation is encumbering the domestic US economy as existing debts continue to be serviced. Government deficit spending can only offset lower consumer spending to a degree, and the mushrooming debt of the US government raises the question of whether the US can repay or roll over its debt obligations, given that tax receipts are likely to fall.

Despite deflationary pressure, the value of the US dollar is in a downtrend trend pointing to higher prices for imported goods and energy. Devaluing the US dollar will reduce the value of debts in real terms, thus it can make debt levels sustainable, but higher prices will exacerbate debt defaults, worsening the condition of US banks. Mr. Bernanke’s dilemma is how to salvage the balance sheets of US banks without sparking high inflation or unleashing hyperinflation.

Where the US dollar is concerned, opinions on hyperinflation range from the view that hyperinflation of the world reserve currency is impossible in principle (because, for example, the values of other currencies are linked to that of the US dollar), to the view that hyperinflation of the US dollar has already happened and that all that remains are the consequences.

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Is it logical—or even possible—for a 69-year-old to get a mortgage? a prospective home-buyer wonders in a recent Wall Street Journal column. The short answer is yes, it’s possible, although there are other options to be considered, including a reverse mortgage—or specifically, a HECM for purchase, WSJ says.

The home-buyer in question is looking to sell his current residence in order to buy a retirement home. He says he could pay all cash for the house he’s interested in, but is thinking about taking advantage of low interest rates rather than tying up all of his money in real estate.

As long as you meet a lender’s requirements as far as income, credit, and other related factors, says WSJ, you’re eligible for a mortgage, no matter what your age, under the federal government’s Equal Opportunity Credit Act. If the borrower were to pass away before the mortgage is paid off, the unpaid balance would become a lien tied to the house, and heirs would be obligated to either make the remaining payments on the mortgage, sell the house to pay off the mortgage, or refinance the loan.

However, the article continues, another option that should be considered at the prospective buyer’s age is a reverse mortgage. Thanks to the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, says WSJ, it may even be possible for the prospective buyer to purchase the new home and get a reverse mortgage in a single transaction as long as all requirements are met. Getting a reverse mortgage allows homeowners to convert their property’s equity into cash which can be accessed through a fixed monthly amount, a line of credit, or both, the article continues.

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ABC News is reporting today that reverse mortgage borrowers have “little to fear” in the wake of Wells Fargo’s exit from the retail business, as it follows the departure of Bank of America from the origination business earlier this year.

In an article titled “Reverse Mortgages: Customers Have Little to Fear as Wells Fargo and Bank of America, Two Biggest Players, Exit Business,” ABC speaks with one borrower with a Bank of America reverse mortgage who expressed uncertainty regarding the status of his loan, but stresses that the two large lenders will continue to service their reverse mortgage loans as usual.

Further, the ABC coverage underscores that reverse mortgages are not going away. The article expresses a similar sentiment to New York Times coverage last week following the exit of Wells Fargo from the business.

“These products will continue to play a role for the foreseeable future,” John Lunde, president of Reverse Market Insight, told ABC. People who might need such a loan should have no trouble finding one, he says, although the providers of reverse mortgages could shift toward smaller, specialized lenders, or insurance companies like MetLife.

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