August Refi Surge Reflected in Higher Conventional Lending Share

Refinancing jumped to 43 percent of all loans originated in August, a 6 percentage point higher share than in July.  Ellie Mae's Origination Insight Report says this takes the refi share back to a level last seen in March.

The share of all loans closed during the month with FHA backing slipped three percentage points to 20 percent with conventional financing increasing by that amount to a 68 percent share. The VA share was unchanged from the previous month at 9 percent. The mix of conventional loans shifted to reflect the surge in refinancing.  Those loans rose from 47 percent of all conventional loans in July to 54 percent.

The average time to close all loans remained steady at 46 days for the third consecutive month. The time to close a refinance decreased by two days to 46 days while the purchase mortgage timeline was unchanged at 46 days.

Closing rates for all loans increased to 72.3 percent from 71.6 percent in July. Refinance closing rates increased to 67.1 percent from 66.6 percent and 76.4 percent of purchase mortgages closed compared to 75.7 percent the previous month. Ellie Mae basis its closing rates on a sample of loan applications initiated 90 days earlier, in this case in May.

FICO scores continued to rise with an average FICO score of 731. Scores for conventional purchase loans held steady at 754 while conventional refinance scores rose from an average of 739 to 347. 

"Refinances continued their upswing in August, representing 43 percent of all closed loans," said Jonathan Corr, president and CEO of Ellie Mae. "Average FICO scores were also on the rise, climbing back to 731, which is the highest average we've seen since March of 2015, and tied to the rising percentage of conventional loans versus FHA loans. The 30-year note rate also fell to a historic low of 3.770, the lowest we've seen since May of 2013."