Customers aren’t as happy with originators this year – largely because of a perception that the mortgage process is taking longer
Mortgage customers aren’t as satisfied with originators’ performance this year as they’ve been in the past, according to new data from J.D. Power.
The company’s annual US Primary Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study found that overall satisfaction with originators was down this year, largely due to a perception among customers that the process had slowed – despite a spike in the number of customers applying online.
“We’re at a critical inflection point in the mortgage industry where new technology and the growing use of digital mortgage application channels has made it possible for the origination process to move more quickly,” said Craig Martin, J.D. Power’s mortgage practice director. “However, the customer is still the final judge of speed and quality. A critical element of satisfaction is setting expectations, and this tends to be a weakness of technology, which is demonstrated by substantially lower satisfaction among customers who do not work with a human to complete their application.”
According to the study, satisfaction with digital processes hasn’t tracked with those processes’ increased use. For the first time in the study’s history, both purchase and refi customers cited “online/website” as their most frequent method of submitting a mortgage application. Forty-three percent of respondents said they’d applied for a mortgage digitally this year, up from just 28% last year. However, satisfaction among online customers dropped 18 points year over year.
But customers were also less satisfied with the human touch. Overall satisfaction with primary mortgage originators saw an eight-point slide this year, driven largely by complaints of a slower process. And those complaints don’t appear to be unfounded; on average, the purchasing process took almost a week longer in 2017 than in 2016, J.D. Power found.
Among mortgage originators, Quicken Loans ranked first in customer satisfaction for the eighth consecutive year. This year, however, it shared first place with Guild Mortgage; both companies achieved a customer satisfaction score of 878 out of a possible 1,000. The industry average was 826 out of 1,000.
Here are the top mortgage companies for customer satisfaction, according to J.D. Power:
Related stories:
Nearly a quarter of homebuyers regret their choice of lender
Quicken Loans partners with eOriginal to bring online mortgage to secondary market
The company’s annual US Primary Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study found that overall satisfaction with originators was down this year, largely due to a perception among customers that the process had slowed – despite a spike in the number of customers applying online.
“We’re at a critical inflection point in the mortgage industry where new technology and the growing use of digital mortgage application channels has made it possible for the origination process to move more quickly,” said Craig Martin, J.D. Power’s mortgage practice director. “However, the customer is still the final judge of speed and quality. A critical element of satisfaction is setting expectations, and this tends to be a weakness of technology, which is demonstrated by substantially lower satisfaction among customers who do not work with a human to complete their application.”
According to the study, satisfaction with digital processes hasn’t tracked with those processes’ increased use. For the first time in the study’s history, both purchase and refi customers cited “online/website” as their most frequent method of submitting a mortgage application. Forty-three percent of respondents said they’d applied for a mortgage digitally this year, up from just 28% last year. However, satisfaction among online customers dropped 18 points year over year.
But customers were also less satisfied with the human touch. Overall satisfaction with primary mortgage originators saw an eight-point slide this year, driven largely by complaints of a slower process. And those complaints don’t appear to be unfounded; on average, the purchasing process took almost a week longer in 2017 than in 2016, J.D. Power found.
Among mortgage originators, Quicken Loans ranked first in customer satisfaction for the eighth consecutive year. This year, however, it shared first place with Guild Mortgage; both companies achieved a customer satisfaction score of 878 out of a possible 1,000. The industry average was 826 out of 1,000.
Here are the top mortgage companies for customer satisfaction, according to J.D. Power:
| Company | Rank | Score (out of 1,000) |
| Quicken Loans | 1 (tie) | 878 |
| Guild Mortgage | 1 (tie) | 878 |
| PrimeLending | 2 | 859 |
| Regions Mortgage | 3 | 837 |
| Fairway Independent Mortgage | 4 | 836 |
| Guaranteed Rate | 5 (tie) | 831 |
| PennyMac | 5 (tie) | 831 |
| Bank of America | 6 | 823 |
| BB&T | 7 (tie) | 820 |
| LoanDepot | 7 (tie) | 820 |
| Flagstar Bank | 8 | 816 |
| U.S. Bank Home Mortgage | 9 | 815 |
| Caliber Home Loans | 10 | 812 |
Related stories:
Nearly a quarter of homebuyers regret their choice of lender
Quicken Loans partners with eOriginal to bring online mortgage to secondary market
