The time to close all loans in April remained steady at 44 days, according to the latest Origination Insight Report released by Ellie Mae. The average time to close a purchase remained steady at 45 days in April, while the time to close a refinance increased to 44 days in April, up from 41 days in March.
Similarly, the average time to close FHA loans increased from 44 days in March to 45 days in April. Time to close VA loans remained steady at 48 days.
Closing rates for all loans decreased to 69 percent in April, down from the high of 71 percent in March. Refinance closing rates decreased to 65 percent in April, down from 66 percent in March, while purchase closing rates fell to 73 percent, down from 75 percent in March.
“Additionally, while our FICO distribution charts show that approximately 68 percent of average FICO scores for both refinances and purchases in April were above 700, we’re seeing purchase credit availability with 31 percent of FICO scores in the 600–699 range,” Ellie Mae CEO Jonathan Corr said.
In terms of loan purpose, purchases increased to 59 percent of all closed loans, up from 55 percent in March.
Ellie Mae’s new FICO distribution charts in the April Origination Insight Report showed that conventional loan FICO distribution reported 81 percent of scores above 700, while FHA FICO distribution showed only 39 percent of FICO scores over 700 and 56 percent of FHA loans with FICO scores between 600 and 699.
The Origination Insight Report mines its application data from a robust sampling of approximately 66 percent 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.
Other findings from the April report:
- The average 30-year rate for all loans decreased from 4.12 in March to 4.10 in April.
- Debt-to-Income (DTI) remained steady at 25/38 and Loan-to-Value (LTV) stayed at 80.