Talking Points
- Home loans for purchases increased to 57 percent in February, up from 53 percent the month prior, according to the latest Origination Insight Report released by Ellie Mae®, a leading provider of innovative on-demand software solutions and services for the residential mortgage industry.
- The average time to close all loans decreased to 46 days in February, down from 51 days in January. Similarly, the time to close a refinance dropped to 47 days from 53 days the month prior, and time to close a purchase dropped to 45 days, down from 48 days in January.
- As the 30-year note continued to rise in February, average FICO scores dropped with the average FICO score on all closed loans at 720. Conventional refinance FICO scores dropped to 728 in February, down from 732 in January. FHA refinance FICO scores dropped to 649 in February, down from 651 in January. VA refinance FICO scores dropped five points to 702 in February. FICO scores on purchases stayed consistent from the month prior with FHA purchase FICO scores at 686, conventional purchase at 752 and VA purchase at 707.
- Closing rates for all loans decreased to 70.6 percent, down from 72.2 percent in January. Refinance closing rates decreased to 65.4 percent, down from 67.9 percent the month prior, and purchase closing rates decreased from 76.8 percent in January to 75.9 percent in February.