TMC BENCHMARK FEBRUARY DATA: Numbers ARE IMPROVING Across the BoarD!

TMC lender members saw relief this month as applications, production, efficiency, and salaries all spiked upward. Additionally, the network saw fees, costs per closed loan and app to clear to close all average downward. 
​
Closed loan units increased by 23% in February when compared to the month prior. Within that, lenders saw closed purchase loans increase and refinances dropped to a record low month over month. Refinances were 11% of all closings in February.
  
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%
August 2022: 13%
September 2022: 13%
October 2022: 13%
November 2022: 13%
December 2022: 12%
January 2023: 13%
February 2023: 11%
  
The % of conventional closings also remained flat again in February at 66% (units). Historically, conventional loans have represented 75-76% of all closed loan units these past seven 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 increased by 21% in February from the previous month. Conventional loans remained flat at 62% of new app share.
Operational efficiency increased for all categories in February. The number of closed loan units closed per full-time processor increased to 6.5, and closed loan units per full-time closer increased to 20.6 in February from 17 in January. Closed loan units per full-time underwriter rose to 16 in February from 14 in January. The average loan originator closed 2.3 units in February, a bump from 1.9 in January. LO comp came in at an average of 89.6 bps, up 2.6 basis points (bp) from last month's 87 total. 
  
Average annual compensation paid to operational staff increased month-over-month, with average annual comp paid to FTE processors at $57,699 this month. Underwriter annual comp lowered slightly to $84,762. Average annual comp paid to closers rose once again to $55,426.
  
The average "app date to clear to close date" increased to 34.5 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
--- 
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
The average cost per closed loan unit our members paid for their loan origination system (LOS) increased in February to $230 from $224 the previous month. The average cost per closed loan unit for our members' point-of-sale (POS) system dropped $9 to $83.4 in February and dropped 1 bps to $96 for their CRM.  
  
Average non-third-party lender fees for conventional loans lowered to $1,190 in February compared to $1,246 the previous month. Government lender fees also reduced from $1,253 to $1,111 in this most recent month. 
  
59% of this month's participants in TMC Benchmark were depositories, and 41% were IMBs. 36% originate under $500M a year in annual volume, 22% originate between $500M-$1B, and 41% originate over $1 billion per year in annual production.