TMC BENCHMARK DECEMBER DATA: Production and Cost Per Closed Loan Increase, While New Applications STAY STEADY.

December rounded out 2022 with a continued downturn in applications. However, TMC’s lender members sawproduction go up and salaries and fees stay flat. Unfortunately cost per closed loans went back up in December, while efficiencydecreasedslightlyas we head into the new year.

Closed loan units increased 3% in December when compared to the month prior. Within that, lenders saw closed purchase loans and refinances continue to remain flat month over month. Refinances finally dipped to 12% of all closings in December after remaining at 13% for five months in a row.

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

January 2022: 39%
February 2022: 37%
March 2022: 29%
April 2022: 24%
May 2022: 16%
June 2022: 14%
July 2022: 13%
August2022: 13%
September2022: 13%
October2022: 13%
November2022: 13%
December 2022: 12%

The % of conventional closings also remained flat again in December at 65% (units). Historically, conventional loans have represented 75-76% of all closed loan units these past six years. Government loan closings remained at elevated levels, coming in at 28%of all closings this month, far above the 18-20% ranges we’ve historically seen in TMC Benchmark.

New applications dropped by 13% in December from the previous month. Conventional loans remained flat at 64% of new app share.

Operational efficiency increased for closers and processors, and remained relatively flat for everyone else in December. The number of closed loan units closed per full-time processor were up to 6, and closed loan units per full-time closer increased to 19in December from 17.93 in November. Closed loan units per full-time underwriter remained at 16 in December. The average loan originator closed 2.21 units in December, a drop from 2.26 in November. LO comp came in at an average of 97.95 bps, up 6.25 basis point (bp) from last month's 91.7 total.

Average annual compensation paid to operational staff increased month-over-month, with average annual comp paid to FTE processors at $51,452 this month. Underwriter annual comp lowered slightly to $84,462. Average annual comp paid to closers roseto $53,958.

The average "app date to clear to close date" decreased to 36.97 this month. Let's look at how this number trended throughout the course of 2021 and 2022:

January '21 -47.9
February '21 -43.1
March '21 -42.8
April '21 -45.7
May '21 -43.8
June '21 -41.8
July '21 -43.2
August '21 -42.5
September '21 -42.3
October '21 -42.6
November '21 -41.0
December '21 -34.0
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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

The average cost per closed loan unit our members paid for their loan origination system (LOS) increased in December to $173 from $153 the previous month. The average cost per closed loan unit for our members' point-of-sale (POS) system climbed $6.28 to $71.55in December and rose 9 bps to $95 for their CRM.

Average non-third-party lender fees for conventional loans rose slightly to $1,225 in December compared to $1,191 the previous month. Government lender fees rose slightly from $1,200 to $1,226 in this most recent month.

​57% of this month's participants in TMC Benchmark were depositories, and 43% were IMBs. 39% originate under $500M a year in annual volume, 26% originate between $500M-$1B, and 35% originate over $1 billion per year in annual production.on.