Purchase loan originations increase, time to close lower

The share of mortgage originations that were for home purchase increased in April according to the latest data from mortgage software firm Ellie Mae

Purchase loan originations increase, time to close lower
The share of mortgage originations that were for home purchase increased in April according to the latest data from mortgage software firm Ellie Mae.

Purchases made up 65% of total loans with refinances down to 35%. A year earlier purchases made up 59% of mortgage originations while refinances took a 40% share.

“We also saw the time to close loans shrink for the third consecutive month to 42 days, a substantial decrease from the 2017 high of 51 days in January. Ellie Mae customers are realizing efficiencies as they embrace technology to improve the homebuying experience,” said Jonathan Corr, president and CEO of Ellie Mae.

The data shows that the rate for an average 30-year mortgage was 4.41% in April, up from 4.39% in March while ARM’s made up a higher proportion of new mortgage originations – 5.9% compared to 5.6% in March – reaching the highest share since November 2014.

By loan type there was little change with conventional loans making up 63% of mortgage originations, FHAs 23% and VAs 10%, unchanged from March and little changed from April 2016.

The average FICO score for closed first-lien loans was 722 with loan-to-value ratio of 80 and debt-to-income at 25/39.