For the second month in a row, the time to close all loans remained steady at 44 days in April, as lenders fall into a routine in this post-TRID environment, the latest Origination Insight Report from Ellie Mae found.
As a refresher, this is the shortest time to close since March 2015 and is down two days from February, when the time to close fell to 46 days.
“Days to close a loan remained steady at 44 days in April,” said Jonathan Corr, president and CEO of Ellie Mae.
Broken up, the average time to close a purchase also remained steady at 45 days in April, while the time to close a refinance increased to 44 days in April, up from 41 days in March.
And looking at product type, the average time to close FHA loans increased from 44 days in March to 45 days in April, as the time to close VA loans remained steady at 48 days.
Closing rates for all loans dropped to 69% in April, falling from the high of 71% in March.
Refinance closing rates declined to 65% in April, down from 66% in March, while purchase closing rates fell to 73%, down from 75% in March.
“Additionally, while our FICO distribution charts show that approximately 68% of average FICO scores for both refinances and purchases in April were above 700, we’re seeing purchase credit availability with 31% of FICO scores in the 600–699 range.”
This is welcome news for homebuyers given how tight the credit box is right now.
