TMC BENCHMARK APRIL DATA: Data stays consistent over the month of April

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

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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.