Ellie Mae® (NYSE: ELLI), a leading provider of enterprise-level, on-demand automated solutions for the residential mortgage industry, today released its Origination Insight Report for March 2014. The report draws its data and insights from a robust sampling of the significant volume of loan applications that flow through Ellie Mae’s Encompass® mortgage management software and the Ellie Mae Network™.

MONTHLY ORIGINATION OVERVIEW FOR MARCH 2014

   

March
2014*

  

February
2014*

  

6 Months Ago
(September
2013)*

  

1 Year Ago
(March 2013)*

Closed Loans
Purpose
Refinance   40%   43%   42%   62%
Purchase   60%   57%   58%   38%
Type
FHA   22%   22%   19%   21%
Conventional   65%   65%   70%   70%
Days to Close
All   40   41   42   46
Refinance   37   40   40   47
Purchase   41   42   43   44
ARMs vs. Fixed, Length, Rate
ARM %   7.4%   6.9%   5.5%   2.5%
15 Year %   12.4%   13.3%   15.5%   15.9%
30 Year – Note Rate   4.604   4.655   4.761   3.813

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

 

PROFILES OF CLOSED AND DENIED LOANS FOR MARCH 2014

   

Closed First-Lien Loans
(All Types)

  

Denied Loans
(All Types)

FICO Score (FICO)   725   689
Loan-to-Value (LTV)   82   81
Debt-to-Income (DTI)   24/37   28/44

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 (i.e., the December 2013 applications) to calculate an overall closing rate of 58% in March 2014, up from 55.3% in February 2014 (see full report).

“We continue to see the resurgence of a purchase-centric market as numbers inch closer to historical levels,” said Jonathan Corr, president and chief operating officer of Ellie Mae. “Purchases increased another three percentage points in March 2014 to represent 60% of loans, quite the difference from March 2013 when purchases represented only 38% of loans.

“Credit requirements tightened ever so slightly last month. The average FICO score on all closed loans increased for the first time in 2014, rising one point to 725. The average debt-to-income ratio also tightened on both the front and backend, falling to 24/37.

“Average time to close in March 2014 fell to 40 days for all loans––five days faster than January 2014. The average purchase loan closed six days faster (41 days) in March than it did in January (47 days).”

About Ellie Mae Origination Insight Report

In 2013, approximately 3.5 million loan applications ran through Ellie Mae's Encompass mortgage management solution. The Origination Insight Report mines its application data from a robust sampling of approximately 57% of all mortgage applications that were initiated on the Encompass origination platform. Given the size of this sample and Ellie Mae’s market share, the Company believes the Origination Insight Report is a strong proxy of the underwriting standards that are being employed by lenders across the country.

The Origination Insight Report focuses on loans that closed or were denied in a specific month and compares their characteristics to similar loans that closed or were denied three and six months earlier. 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 nonqualification.

The Origination Insight Report details aggregated, anonymized data and does not disclose client-specific or proprietary information.

News organizations have the right to reuse this data, provided that Ellie Mae, Inc. is credited as the source.

About Ellie Mae

Ellie Mae, Inc. (NYSE: ELLI) is a leading provider of on-demand automation solutions for the mortgage industry. The Company offers an end-to-end solution, delivered using a Software-as-a-Service model that serves as the core operating system for mortgage originators and spans customer relationship management, loan origination and business management. The Company also hosts the Ellie Mae Network™ that allows Encompass® users to electronically conduct business transactions with the lenders and settlement service providers they work with to process and fund loans. The Company’s offerings include the Encompass and DataTrac® mortgage management software systems.

Ellie Mae was founded in 1997 and is based in Pleasanton, California. To learn more about Ellie Mae, visit www.EllieMae.com or call 877.355.4362.

© 2014 Ellie Mae, Inc. Ellie Mae®, Encompass®, DataTrac®, Ellie Mae Network™ and the Ellie Mae logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Ellie Mae, Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Other company and product names may be trademarks or copyrights of their respective owners.