According to the April Origination Insight Report from Ellie Mae®, the 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.

In addition to the Origination Insight Report, Ellie Mae also distributes data from its monthly Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker on the first Wednesday of each month. The Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker focuses on mortgage applications submitted by borrowers born between the years 1980 and 1999.

MONTHLY ORIGINATION OVERVIEW FOR APRIL 2019

Apr.
2019*
Mar.
2019*
6 Months Ago
(Oct. 2018*)
1 Year Ago
(Apr. 2018*)
Closed Loans
Purpose
Refinance35%35%32%34%
Purchase65%65%68%66%
Type
FHA20%20%19%20%
Conventional66%64%65%66%
VA10%11%10%9%
Days to Close
All40424541
Refinance33344337
Purchase43454642
Percentage of ARM and Fixed Loan Volume
ARM %6.8%7.4%8.2%6.6%
30-Year Rate
Average4.61%4.77%5.01%4.79%

*All references to months should be read as month ended.

PROFILES OF CLOSED AND DENIED 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

More information and analysis of closed and denied loans by loan purpose and investor are available in the full report at http://www.elliemae.com/about-us/news-reports/ellie-mae-reports/.

To get a meaningful view of lender pull-through, Ellie Mae reviewed a sampling of loan applications initiated 90 days prior—or the January 2019 applications—to calculate an overall closing rate of 74.8% in April 2019 (see full report).

About the Ellie Mae Origination Insight Report

The Origination Insight Report focuses on loans that closed in a specific month and compares their characteristics to similar loans that closed three and six months earlier. The closing rate is calculated on a 90-day cycle rather than on a monthly basis because most loan applications typically take one-and-a-half to two months from application to closing. Loans that do not close could still be active applications or applications withdrawn by consumers or denied for incompleteness or non-qualification.

The Origination Insight Report details aggregated anonymized data pulled from Ellie Mae’s Encompass origination platform.

News organizations have the right to reuse this data, provided that Ellie Mae, Inc. is credited as the source.

About Ellie Mae

Ellie Mae is the leading cloud-based platform provider for the mortgage finance industry. Ellie Mae’s technology solutions enable lenders to originate more loans, reduce origination costs, and shorten the time to close, all while ensuring the highest levels of compliance, quality and efficiency. Visit EllieMae.com or call 877.355.4362 to learn more.

PRESS CONTACT

Erica Harvill
Ellie Mae, Inc.
(925) 227-5913
Erica.harvill@elliemae.com

Caitlin Coffee
Allison+Partners
(312) 635-8204
EllieMae@allisonpr.com

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© 2019 Ellie Mae, Inc. Ellie Mae®Encompass®AllRegs®Mavent®Velocify®, the Ellie Mae logo and other trademarks or service marks of Ellie Mae, Inc. appearing herein are the property of Ellie Mae, Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Other company and product names may be trademarks or copyrights of their respective owners.

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