According to the April Origination Insight Report from Ellie Mae®, a leading cloud-based platform provider for the mortgage finance industry, the 30-year note rate dropped for the fourth straight month to 4.61%, down from 4.77% in March and the high of 5.01% in January. Additionally, the time to close all loans dropped two days to 40 days, down from 42 in March. Time to close a refinance dropped one day to 33 days and time to close a purchase dropped two days to 43 days.
“We are seeing closing times drop across the board as our lenders leverage technology for a more efficient and streamlined loan origination process,” said Jonathan Corr, president and CEO of Ellie Mae. “And as the 30-year note rate continues to decline and closing rates remain high, we expect to see an active spring home buying cycle.”
Other statistics of note in April included:
- The percentage of refinances held at 35% while purchases made up 65% of total closed loans
- The percentage of Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs)decreased to 6.8%, down from 7.4% in March
- Closing rates dropped slightly to 74.8%, down from 75.3% in March.
The Origination Insight Report mines data from a robust sampling of approximately 80% of all mortgage applications that were initiated on the Encompass® all-in-one mortgage management solution. Ellie Mae believes the Origination Insight Report is a strong proxy of the underwriting standards employed by lenders across the country.
| MONTHLY ORIGINATION OVERVIEW FOR APRIL 2019 | |||||||||
| Apr. 2019* | Mar. 2019* | 6 Months Ago
(Oct. 2018*) |
1 Year Ago
(Apr. 2018*) |
||||||
| Closed Loans | |||||||||
| Purpose | |||||||||
| Refinance | 35% | 35% | 32% | 34% | |||||
| Purchase | 65% | 65% | 68% | 66% | |||||
| Type | |||||||||
| FHA | 20% | 20% | 19% | 20% | |||||
| Conventional | 66% | 64% | 65% | 66% | |||||
| VA | 10% | 11% | 10% | 9% | |||||
| Days to Close | |||||||||
| All | 40 | 42 | 45 | 41 | |||||
| Refinance | 33 | 34 | 43 | 37 | |||||
| Purchase | 43 | 45 | 46 | 42 | |||||
| Percentage of ARM and Fixed Loan Volume | |||||||||
| ARM % | 6.8% | 7.4% | 8.2% | 6.6% | |||||
| 30-Year Rate | |||||||||
| Average | 4.61% | 4.77% | 5.01% | 4.79% | |||||
| *All references to months should be read as month ended. | |||||||||
| PROFILES OF CLOSED LOANS FOR APRIL 2019 | |||||||||
| Closed First-Lien Loans (All Types) |
|||||||||
| FICO Score (FICO) | 728 | ||||||||
| Loan-to-Value (LTV) | 79 | ||||||||
| Debt-to-Income (DTI) | 25/38 | ||||||||
