Numbers this month remained mostly flat for our network of lender members with a few exceptions:
​

• TMC lender members saw a drop in all fees aside from the 7bps increase in their Cost Per Closed Loans for CRM systems.  
• TMC saw staff efficiency significantly improve in May. Excluding April’s downturn, May results are more reflective of the steadily increasing 2023 efficiency numbers.  

Closed loan units increased by 23% in May when compared to the month prior. Within that, lenders saw closed purchase loans stay the same and refinances also showed no changes in May. Refinances stayed at 9% of all closings in May. 
   
Here's the refinance share we've seen in TMC Benchmark through 2022 and 2023:  
   
January 2022: 39%  
February 2022: 37%  
March 2022: 29%  
April 2022: 24%  
May 2022: 16%  
June 2022: 14% 
July 2022: 13% 
August 2022: 13% 
September 2022: 13% 
October 2022: 13% 
November 2022: 13% 
December 2022: 12% 
January 2023: 13% 
February 2023: 11% 
March 2023: 10% 
April 2023: 9% 
May 2023: 9% 
   
The percentage of conventional closings also remained flat again in May at 67% (units). Historically, conventional loans have represented 75-76% of all closed loan units these past seven years. Government loan closings dipped slightly, coming in at 28% of all closings yet again this month, staying above the 18-20% ranges we’ve historically seen in TMC Benchmark.  
   
New applications increased by 1% in May from the previous month. Conventional loans increased by 68% of new app share. 

Operational efficiency increased in all categories for the first time since February. The number of closed loan units closed per full-time processor increased to 10, and closed loan units per full-time closer increased to 32 in May from 25.6 in April. Closed loan units per full-time underwriter jumped to 25.8 in May from 20.9 in April. The average loan originator closed 3.49 units in May, also increasing from April’s 2.78. LO comp came in at an average of 91 bps, not changing from the previous month. 
   
Average annual compensation paid to operational staff dipped month-over-month, with average annual comp paid to FTE processors at $51,599 this month. Underwriter annual comp increased slightly to $86,590. Average annual comp paid to closers also increased to $54,268. 
   
The average "app date to clear to close date" increased to 34 this month. Let's look at how this number trended throughout the course of 2022 and 2023:  
    
January '22 - 40.1  
February '22 - 39.6  
March '22 - 39.6  
April '22 - 39.6  
May ’22 – 42.3  
June '22 – 39.7 
July '22 – 39.2 
August ’22 – 38.45 
September ’22 – 38.93 
October ’22 – 37.07 
November ’22 – 40.7 
December ’22 – 36.97 
---  
January ’23 – 38.33 
February ’23 – 34.5 
March ’23 – 35.1 
April ’23 – 33 
May ’23 - 34 

The average cost per closed loan unit our members paid for their loan origination system (LOS) dropped to $155 in May. The average cost per closed loan unit for our members' point-of-sale (POS) system lowered in May to $63.75 from $74 in April and rose 7 bps to $95 for their CRM.   
   
Average non-third-party lender fees for conventional loans rose slightly to $1,197 in May compared to $1,177 the previous month. Government loan fees also rose to $1,201 in May.  
   
54% of this month's participants in TMC Benchmark were depositories, and 46% were IMBs. 38% originate under $500M a year in annual volume, 23% originate between $500M-$1B, and 39% originate over $1 billion per year in annual production.  

​Top Headlines: 
Curinos Perspective: Fed Pauses, But What Lies Ahead is Less Clear
FinLocker Study Shows Homeownership A Top Goal of Gen Z After Reducing Debt
Take MGIC's Annual LO Survey by June 30th & Get First Access to the Report When Released
Capacity & Total Expert Announce Partnership to Provide AI-Enabled Productivity Solutions for Financial Institutions
Black Knight Originations Mortgage Monitor: Rate Locks Increased in May but Remain Sluggish Overall
Total Expert Announces Customer Expy Award Winners at 2023 Accelerate Conference
Optimal Blue, a division of Black Knight: Weekly Market Update - 6/14/23
 
Thought Leadership:
Lenders Court Gen Z With ChatGPT-like Tech, featuring Total Expert Founder & CEO, Joe Welu
NMP featuring Maxwell Co-Founder & CTO, Rutul Dave: Underserved Borrowers Want Local vs. Online Experience
Arch MI Capital Commentary: FHFA Feel Heat on Capitol Hill
FinLocker's FinTalk: June Conversations on The Benefits of Homeownership for First-Time Homebuyers
matchbox President, Frank Fiore: State of the Market - June 2023
ActiveComply Guest Blog, featuring Depth PR's Lindsey Neal: ECOA & Advertising - What's the Connection?
 
Media: 
Capacity New Podcast: Practical AI: The Capacity for Good
(Video) Black Knight's Matthew DeBord on Black Knight's CMB Mentorship Program
 
Blogs:
Capacity Blog: 10 Tips to Start Growing Your Business Using Digital Transformation Tools
Certified Credit: Most Common Errors on Credit Reports & How to Fix Them
SimpleNexus: Top Mortgage KPIs & How to Track Them
Curinos: Mortgage Hot Topics: May Jumbo Rate Trends | Market Growth Trends | Refi Cycle Times
Black Knight: How Automation Can Help Lenders Run Lean
Optimal Blue, a division of Black Knight - Free White Paper: Pool Saver: Bringing Time & Basis Points to the Secondary Market

Top Headlines:
Fannie Mae: Perceived Homebuying, Home-Selling Conditions Diverge Further in May
Freddie Mac Rolls Out Affordable Housing Program for Native Americans
Optimal Blue, a division of Black Knight: Weekly Market Update - 6/7/23

Thought Leadership:
OptiFunder CEO, Michael McFadden: What Mortgage Leaders Need to Know About AI
leadpops, by rebel IQ EVP of Growth, Jason Frazier: Fire Up Your Pipeline with rebel IGNITE
Dovenmuehle SVP, Business Development, David Allison: Context is Key in Formulating a Response to Mortgage Default Data

TMC Connect – Next Week:
6/12 @ 3PM ET: Better Me in 2023: Creating Balance & Integration in Our Personal & Professional Lives: Part 2
6/14 @ 3PM ET: Valuation Modernization – What it Means To You w/Fannie Mae & Stewart Valuation Intelligence
6/20 @ 3PM ET: Emerging Solutions in Home Equity – Title, Settlement & Closing

​Media: 
(Podcast) Lykken on Lending 5/26 episode featuring Candor Technology Chief Business Officer, Ed Kourany: Candor Innovation
(Video) Loan Officer Hub, powered by MGIC, featuring ActiveComply's Ally Carty: Gen Z on Gen Z
(On-demand Webinar) Introducing rebel IGNITE, featuring Andrew Pawlak & Jason Frazier

​Blogs: 
MQMR Weekly FAQ: Fannie Mae & Appraisal Text Scanning
Black Knight Vision Blog: Accelerating Mortgage Origination with Task-Based Workflows
SimpleNexus: Leveraging Digital for Smarter Referral Strategies
Q&A with Inspector Joe Williams: Why Inspectors Prefer to Work with Lenders Who Use Built
Maxwell: How to Reach New, Underserved Borrower Audiences in 2023

Numbers this month remained mostly flat for our network of lender members aside from a few key drops. TMC lender members saw a $3 drop in their Cost Per Closed Loans for CRM systems. And while Government closed loans increased in April, refinances hit yet another all-time low. TMC saw staff efficiency drop in April compared to the consistent increase for every position since 2023. 
Closed loan units decreased by 1% in April when compared to the month prior. Within that, lenders saw closed purchase loans increase slightly and refinances dropped to another record low month over month. Refinances were 9% of all closings in April.

Here's the refinance share we've seen in TMC Benchmark through 2022 and 2023: 

January 2022: 39% 

February 2022: 37% 

March 2022: 29% 

April 2022: 24% 

May 2022: 16% 

June 2022: 14%

July 2022: 13%

August 2022: 13%

September 2022: 13%

October 2022: 13%

November 2022: 13%

December 2022: 12%

January 2023: 13%

February 2023: 11%

March 2023: 10%

April 2023: 9%

The % of conventional closings also remained flat again in April at 65% (units). Historically, conventional loans have represented 75-76% of all closed loan units these past seven years. Government loan closings are steadily climbing, coming in at 30% of all closings yet again this month, far above the 18-20% ranges we’ve historically seen in TMC Benchmark. 

New applications decreased by 3% in April from the previous month. Conventional loans increased by 1% of new app share.

Operational efficiency decreased in all categories again in April. The number of closed loan units closed per full-time processor decreased to 8.4, and closed loan units per full-time closer decreased to 25.6 in April from 26.98 in March. Closed loan units per full-time underwriter lowered to 20.9 in April from 22.8 in March. The average loan originator closed 2.78 units in April, also decreasing from March’s 3.13. LO comp came in at an average of 91 bps, up 3 basis points (bp) from last month's 88 total. 

Average annual compensation paid to operational staff increased month-over-month, with average annual comp paid to FTE processors at $52,114 this month. Underwriter annual comp lowered slightly to $84,621. Average annual comp paid to closers lowered slightly to $53,482.

The average "app date to clear to close date" dipped to it lowest in over a year to 33 this month. Let's look at how this number trended throughout the course of 20212 and 2023: 

January '22 - 40.1 

February '22 - 39.6 

March '22 - 39.6 

April '22 - 39.6 

May ’22 – 42.3 

June '22 – 39.7

July '22 – 39.2

August ’22 – 38.45

September ’22 – 38.93

October ’22 – 37.07

November ’22 – 40.7

December ’22 – 36.97

--- 

January ’23 – 38.33

February ’23 – 34.5

March ’23 – 35.1

April ’23 - 33

The average cost per closed loan unit our members paid for their loan origination system (LOS) remained at $173 in April. The average cost per closed loan unit for our members' point-of-sale (POS) system went up in April to $74 from $61 in March and dropped 2 bps to $88 for their CRM.  

Average non-third-party lender fees for conventional loans are down to $1,177 in April compared to $1,395 the previous month. Government lender fees stayed the same at $1,182 in April. 

52% of this month's participants in TMC Benchmark were depositories, and 48% were IMBs. 37% originate under $500M a year in annual volume, 26% originate between $500M-$1B, and 37% originate over $1 billion per year in annual production.

Top Headlines
Vice Capital Markets Releases Integration with Freddie Mac Income Limits API
Optimal Blue, a division of Black Knight: Weekly Market Update - 5/18/23

​Thought Leadership
Arch MI Capital Commentary featuring Kirk Willison

Personnel Announcements
Dovenmuehle taps Ron Malik as Senior Vice President of Default Servicing

Next Week on TMC Connect
5/23 @ 1pm ET: Denim Social: Social Media Post Workshop

Media
(On-Demand Webinar) TMC Credit & Verification Cost Saving Series: Part 1| Part 2
(Podcast) Curinos (F)Insights: Fed Hikes Rates Again - Impact on Small Businesses
(On-Demand Webinar) Black Knight Mortgage Monitor Data Report
(Video) Total Expert Founder & CEO, Joe Welu featured on Bloomberg Businessweek: The Shift in Lending

Blogs
MQMR Weekly FAQ: Detecting & Preventing Appraisal Discrimination
TRUE Whitepaper: May 2023 - Transforming the Mortgage Industry with TRUE Lending Intelligence
Surefire, a Black Knight company: PowerPack, featuring Power Calls, Power Messaging & Power Video

Inman recently released their list Best of Finance for 2023, recognizing the achievements of the housing finance community’s best and brightest that are re-shaping the home-buying and financing process. Join us in celebrating the recognition of seven TMC Lender Members and thirteen Preferred Partners!

Lender Members:

• Anita Padilla-Fitzgerald, President & CEO, Take3Tech & MegaStar Financial Corp
• Dustin Sheppard, President, American Pacific Mortgage
• Greg Schwartz, Co-founder & CEO, Tomo
• Keith Canter, CEO, First Community Mortgage
• Rick & Patty Arvielo, Co-founders & CEOs, New American Funding
• Ron Leonhardt, Founder & CEO, CrossCountry Mortgage
• Steve Thompson, President & CEO, PrimeLending

Preferred Partners: 

• Aaron King, Founder & CEO, Snapdocs
• Adam Pollitzer, President & CEO, National MI
• Chris Martin, VP of Business Development – Partnerships, SimpleNexus, an nCino company
• Frederick Eppinger, CEO, Stewart Title
• John Paasonen, Co-founder & CEO, Maxwell
• Matt Hansen, Chief Product Officer, nCino
• Michael Schmeiser, President & CEO, Arch Mortgage Insurance Company
• Michael DeVito, CEO, Freddie Mac
• Michael Dubeck, President & CEO, Planet Home Lending
• Oliver Vanger, CTO, Candor Technology
• Priscilla Almodovar, CEO, Fannie Mae
• Richard Gagliano, President – Origination Technologies, Black Knight
• Tim Mattke, CEO, MGIC