TMC Benchmark July Data: Ridiculous Volume & WFH Operational Productivity, More Purchases, No Let Up In Sight

​July was another huge month for TMC's national network of lender members that submit data to TMC Benchmark. While closed loan production and new applications taken during the month were down slightly from June, July was the second strongest month ever for our members in those two key production metrics. The network closed loans on average one day faster in July than June, but were slightly less efficient, as purchases transactions comprised 58% of July closings, up 7% from June's 51% purchase mix.

Closed loan production was down 6.3% (units) in July, but again, that is compared against June's eye-popping totals. For some perspective, our members closed 8.5% more units in July when compared against May, which was the biggest closing month ever for our members before being eclipsed by June's totals. The mix of closed loan business in July stayed nearly identical - 74% conventional, 21% government, 5% other (jumbo, portfolio, etc.). Closings continue to become more purchase-heavy. Purchases were 41% of closings in April, 44% of closings in May, 51% in June, and represented 58% of all closings in July.

New applications taken were down 4% month-over-month, but like with closings, July was the second biggest new app month ever for our members behind June and July new apps taken were up 16.8% over May's strong totals. The mix of new app business in July trended slightly more towards conventional production. 78% of new apps in July were on conventional production and 18% were government loan programs versus a 76%/20% mix in June. 

After seeing our members set new productivity records in June, operational efficiency was still very strong but just a bit off in July. Here's the closed loan unit totals per FTE (full-time employee) for the last three months (May/June/July):

Processor - 15.2/17.5/16.9
Underwriter - 49.1/54.9/52.2
Closer - 61.0/64.8/62.5
Loan Originator - 7.0/8.1/8.1

The average LO comp on May closings came in at 101.9 bps in July, up from June's 97.1 total. We've seen this number vacillate between 95-105 bps these last six months. We saw an increase in the average non-third party lender fees per loan our members charge their customers, with conventional loans coming in at $1,154 and government at $1,097.

For the first time in six months, underwriter annual comp leveled off, coming in at an average of $94,294, up almost $10,000 from before the pandemic. Average annual comp paid to processors ($56,790) and closers ($54,212) both continues to increase though. We saw fairly significant month-over-month decreases in the average cost per closed loan our members paid for their LOS ($97, down from $115), POS ($49, down from $76), and their CRM ($86, down from $134). 

51% of companies that submitted June data to TMC Benchmark were depositories and 49% were IMB's. 35% originate $500M or less annually, 26% originate between $500M-$1B, and 39% originate $1 billion per year or more in total volume.