30-Year Note Rate Declines Further According to May Origination Insight Report; Time to Close Increases as Purchase Market Heats Up

PLEASANTON, Calif.--()--According to the May 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 fifth straight month to 4.52%, down from 4.61% in April. The time to close crept up to 42 days for all loans, up from 40 days the month prior. There was a substantial jump in the time to close refinances, rising from 33 days in April to 37 days in May. Time to close purchase loans increased one day from 43 days in April to 44 days in May.

“As the 30-year note rate declines for yet another month, we are seeing purchase and refinance activity on the rise,” said Jonathan Corr, President and CEO of Ellie Mae. “Closing rates remain well over 75% and with the Mortgage Bankers Association reporting solid purchase volume and new inventory on the rise, we could be in for a very robust summer home buying season.”

Other statistics of note in May included:

  • The percentage of refinances decreased to 32% while purchases made up 68% of total closed loans.
  • The percentage of Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) decreased to 6.7%, down from 6.8% in April.
  • Closing rates increased to 75.6%, up from 74.8% in April.

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 MAY 2019

    May 2019*   Apr. 2019*   6 Months Ago

(Nov. 2018*)

  1 Year Ago

(May 2018*)

Closed Loans
Purpose
Refinance 32% 35% 30% 30%
Purchase 68% 65% 70% 70%
Type
FHA 19% 20% 19% 20%
Conventional 66% 66% 65% 66%
VA 10% 10% 10% 10%
Days to Close
All 42 40 46 41
Refinance 37 33 43 37
Purchase 44 43 48 43
Percentage of ARM and Fixed Loan Volume
ARM % 6.7% 6.8% 8.9% 6.6%
30-Year Rate
Average 4.52% 4.61% 5.15% 4.84%

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

PROFILES OF CLOSED LOANS FOR MAY 2019

   

Closed First-Lien Loans
(All Types)

FICO Score (FICO) 728
Loan-to-Value (LTV) 80
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 February 2019 applications—to calculate an overall closing rate of 75.6% in May 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. 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, lower origination costs, and reduce 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.

© 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.

Contacts

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

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

Contacts

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

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