TRID woes abating? Average closing time drops to shortest level in a year

Origination time spiked in the wake of TRID – but it seems to be returning to normal

Like TRID or hate it, originators appear, at least, to be getting used to it. The average time to close all loans dropped to 44 days last month – the shortest time since March of 2015, according to new data from Ellie Mae.

The average loan-closing timeline spiked with the introduction of TRID disclosure rules for loans applied for after Oct. 3, 2015. According to Ellie Mae data, it took three or four more days in November to take an average loan from application to closing than it did in October – and that time stayed constant for the next few months.

The time, however, seems to be dropping; in February, the average time to close all loans was 46 days, a drop from an average of 50 days in January.

“We continue to see a decrease in days to close from 46 days in February to 44 days in March,” said Jonathan Corr, president and CEO of Ellie Mae. “In addition, the percentage of loans closing are continuing their upswing, increasing one percentage point to just over 70 percent, which is the highest closing rate we’ve seen since we began tracking data in August of 2011. However, we’re still seeing credit remain relatively tight with 67% of closed loans having FICO scores of 700 or above.”

Ellie Mae’s Origination Insight Report gathers data from a sampling of about 75% of all mortgage applications originated on the company’s Encompass software.