The reverse mortgage market will return to growth over the next five years, according to new research.IBISWorld has released a report on the sector, forecasting that industry revenue will grow at around 5.4 per cent a year over the five years to 2020/21.This would be a turnaround for a sector that has been in decline for a number of years.According to the latest Deloitte review of the reverse mortgage market, there were 39,867 reverse mortgages on issue at then end of last year - down from 41,435 a year earlier.Settlements fell from A$302 million in 2013 to $272 million at the end of last year, while discharges rose from $504 million to $555 million. About 3400 new borrowers took out a reverse mortgage in 2014, while 4900 borrowers repaid their loans (representing 12 per cent of total borrowers).Reverse mortgage balances stood at $3.66 billion at the end of last year - up 2.8 per cent from $3.56 billion at the end of 2013.IBISWorld's optimistic view is based on the assumption that as the population aged above 70 continues to grow, demand for the product will also grow.In addition, rising house prices will allow for larger amounts to be borrowed. "An ageing population and rising house prices are usually favourable for industry operators, but consumers have been slow to adopt industry products compared with other types of lending due to a lack of knowledge and education surrounding reverse mortgages," IBISWorld said.IBISWorld estimates that Commonwealth Bank is the market leader, with a 39.7 per cent share, followed by Westpac (36.5 per cent) Macquarie Group (13.9 per cent) and Australian Seniors Finance (6.8 per cent).It estimates that sector revenue was $272.9 million in 2014/15 - down from $280.3 million in the previous year. It expects revenue to climb to $328 million by 2020/21.