Ellie Mae : 11.15.17October Origination Insight Report from Ellie Mae Shows Percentage of Refinances Ticks Slightly Higher as Interest Rates Dip to New 2017 Low

PLEASANTON, Calif. - November 15, 2017 - The percentage of refinances climbed another percentage point to 39 percent of total loans in October, the highest percentage since February of 2017. This is coupled with a decrease in interest rates for the sixth straight month to o 4.20 percent, a new 2017 low, according to the October Origination Insight Report from Ellie Mae (NYSE:ELLI), the leading cloud-based platform provider for the mortgage finance industry. Time to close a refinance stayed steady at the 40 day mark, the shortest time to close a refinance since February 2015.

'We are continuing to see borrowers take advantage of the lower interest rates as the refinance percentage increases to 39 percent of total loans in the month,' said Jonathan Corr, president and CEO of Ellie Mae. 'We saw increases in October across all loan types with FHA refinances at 23 percent, conventional refinances at 46 percent and VA refinances at 32 percent of all closed loans.'

Other statistics of note in October included:

• The percentage breakdown of all closed loans remained steady with conventional loans at 66 percent, FHA loans at 20 percent and VA loans steady at 10 percent.
• The average FICO score on all closed loans remained steady at 724 in October. FHA purchase FICO scores dropped one point to 681 and FHA refinances increased one point to 650. Conventional refinance FICO scores rose one point to 732 and conventional purchase FICO scores held at 752. VA refinance FICO scores increased on point to 702 and VA purchase FICO scores also dropped a point to 708.
• Closing time for all loans held at 43 days for the second straight month.
• The percentage of ARMs remained at 5.5 percent for the second straight month.

The Origination Insight Report mines data from a robust sampling of approximately 80 percent of all mortgage applications that were initiated on the Encompass all-in-one mortgage management solution. Ellie Mae believes the Origination Insight Report is a strong proxy of the underwriting standards employed by lenders across the country.

In addition to the Origination Insight Report, Ellie Mae also distributes data from its monthly Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker on the first Wednesday of each month. The Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker focuses on mortgage applications submitted by borrowers born between the years 1980 and 1999.

MONTHLY ORIGINATION OVERVIEW FOR OCTOBER 2017

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

PROFILES OF CLOSED AND DENIED LOANS FOR OCTOBER 2017

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-or the June 2017 applications-to calculate an overall closing rate of 70.4 percent in October 2017 (see full report).

About the Ellie Mae Origination Insight Report

The Origination Insight Report focuses on loans that closed in a specific month and compares their characteristics to similar loans that closed 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 non-qualification.

The Origination Insight Report details aggregated anonymized data pulled from Ellie Mae's Encompass origination platform.

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

About Ellie Mae

Ellie Mae (NYSE:ELLI) is the leading cloud-based platform provider for the mortgage finance industry. Ellie Mae's technology solutions enable lenders to originate more loans, reduce origination costs, and shorten the time to close, all while ensuring the highest levels of compliance, quality and efficiency. Visit EllieMae.com or call 877.355.4362 to learn more.

PRESS CONTACT

Erica Harvill
Ellie Mae, Inc.
(925) 227-5913
Erica.harvill@elliemae.com

Alexandra Gardell Kreuter
Allison+Partners
(646) 428-0618
EllieMae@allisonpr.com

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