TMC Benchmark May Data: Efficiency Wanes, New Apps Strong, Lenders Brace For a BUSY Summer

​We saw record participation this month in TMC Benchmark, with our members eager to measure their May performance against their peers with everyone's operational infrastructure being put to test during these times of record volumes. While May closed loan production (units) was down 9% from April, May was still the second biggest closing month ever in the 3.5 years we've been analyzing data through TMC Benchmark. And May new applications taken were up 6% over April, evidence that closings will not slow at all as we head into the heart of summer.

The mix of volume stayed remarkably consistent for our members in May. 75% of all May closed loan units were on conventional loans and 20% were on government loans, the exact same totals as April. May new applications also came in at that same 75% conventional, 20% govie, 5% "other" mix. After bottoming out at an all-time TMC Benchmark low of 18% in March, government loan production seems to now be settled in at the 20% mark. As expected, purchase activity represented a slightly higher % of production on May closings, rising from 41% in April to 44% for this most recent month.

Like with closings, we saw a slight drop off in our members operational efficiency in May coming off record April totals. Most notably, it took our members five days longer to close loans in May, with the average "app date to clear to close date" timeframe rising to 37.2 days from 32.2 days in April. Closed loan units per FTE (full-time employee) processor fell from 16.1 in April to 15.1 in May. Closed loan units per underwriter fell from 51.4 to 47.3 and closings per FTE closer dropped from 63.2 to 61.5. Decisions rendered per underwriter fell from 64.7 in April to 58.5 in May. 

Closed loans per loan originator fell from 7.3 to 6.7 this month. The average LO comp on May closings came in at 99.4 bps. We've seen this number vacillate between 95-105 bps these last six months. After a big drop last month, our lender members average non-third party lender fees per loan stayed pretty consistent, coming in at $1,154 in May on conventional loans and $1,068 on govies. 

Underwriter annual comp rose significantly in May, climbing to an average of $94,370, up from $86,661 in April, likely due to overtime and other production-based incentives. Average annual salaries paid to processors ($52,504) and closers ($53,794) increased slightly. We saw slight increases in the average cost per closed loan our members paid for their LOS ($105, up $5) and POS ($50, up $2). After a huge April spike in the average cost per closed loan for CRM related to add on campaigns targeted at refinance opportunities, that number fell slightly in May, dropping $9 to $202 from $211.

54% of companies that submitted May data to TMC Benchmark were IMB's and 46% were depositories. 38% originate $500M or less annually, 27% originate between $500M-$1B, and 35% originate $1 billion per year or more in total volume.