Ellie Mae Points to Microscopic Sign of Credit Easing

It was only one point but the average FICO score on closedrnloans did decrease slightly in August to 724, the lowest average score sincernFebruary 2014.  That score was, in fact,rnlower by two points than the average for all of last year and was down from anrnaverage of 731 at the beginning of this year.</p

Ellie Mae’s OriginationrnInsight Report also showed that refinancing took only a 37 percent marketrnshare in August compared to 59 percent six months earlier.  Refinancing had a 48 percent share ofrnconventional loans, three points more than in July, but a mere 18 percent ofrnthose originated for FHA.  VA loans fellrnbetween the two at 26 percent. </p

“As we usher in fall, credit scoresrndropped to their lowest level since February 2014 and we saw a small rise inrnrefinances as a percentage of closed loans,” said Jonathan Corr, president andrnCEO of Ellie Mae. “We also continue to see modest improvements in creditrnavailability.”</p

The pull-through or closing rate forrnall loans was 66 percent for the second month in a row, tied for the highestrnsince Ellie Mae began tracking that data in August 2011.  Purchase loans closed at a 70.8 percent raternand refinances at 59.2 percent. FHA refis had a much lower rate – 45.4 percent.rn</p

It took an average of 47 days to close</ba loan in August, 50 days for a refinance and 45 days for a purchasernmortgage.  Closing days were fairlyrnconsistent across loan types.</p