Reverse mortgage professionals are navigating a “more labored current reality” marked by high interest rates, rising upfront costs and longer loan processing times, even as optimism grows around product innovation and technology adoption.

That’s according to Steve Irwin, president of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA), who sat down with HousingWire‘s Reverse Mortgage Daily ahead of the association’s Western Regional Meeting that’s set for June 9.

The conference, Irwin said, is expected to focus on themes including aging-in-place technology, reverse mortgage product development, retirement planning strategies and policy modernization efforts surrounding the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program.

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