TMC BENCHMARK MAY DATA: Production and Efficiency Up, Paired With Lower Costs For Your POS and LOS System

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