TMC Members Shatter Records For New Apps, Closed Loans, Operational Productivity in June

​These are robust times for mortgage lenders. Anecdotally all month we've been hearing from our members how busy things continue to be, with no sign of let up. And the strain it is putting on their entirely remote and completely worn down operations staffs. The June TMC Benchmark numbers certainly back that up. We've talked in this space these past few months about our members having record months in nearly every measurable area. And once again in June, our members achieved new record highs for new apps, closed loan units, and operational productivity. 

Let's start with the bread and butter - closed loans. After a very slight dip in May off April's record closing month, TMC's members saw closed loan units increase by 7.2% in June over May. The mix of closed loan business stayed nearly identical - 74% conventional, 22% government, 4% other (jumbo, portfolio, etc.). Closings continue to become more purchase-heavy. Purchases were 41% of closings in April, 44% of closings in May, and came in at 51% here in June.

Supporting our members "no let up" comments, the new application train is not stopping. Overall new applications (units) were up 12.4% in June, an astonishing figure given May's record new app numbers. The mix of that new business is right in line with what we've been seeing post-pandemic - 76% conventional, 20% government, 4% other. We'll see many of our members continue to set new company records for closings in July and August while trying to figure out how to keep their ops staff sane through it all.

After seeing a slight dip in operational productivity in May off April's record figures, our members set new productivity records in June. Here's the closed loan unit totals per FTE (full-time employee) for the last three months (April/May/June):

Processor - 16.0/15.2/17.5
Underwriter - 51.8/49.1/54.9
Closer - 63.8/61.0/64.8
Loan Originator - 7.3/7.0/8.1

The average LO comp on May closings came in at 97.1 bps in June, down from May's 99.4 total. We've seen this number vacillate between 95-105 bps these last six months. We saw a drop in the average non-third party lender fees per loan our members charge their customers, with conventional loans coming in at $1,115 and government at $1,042.

Not surprisingly, underwriter annual comp continues to rise, climbing to an average of $94,767, up almost $10,000 from before the pandemic. Average annual salaries paid to processors ($55,409) and closers ($54,001) also continue to increase. We saw increases in the average cost per closed loan our members paid for their LOS ($115, up $10) and POS ($76, up $14). After a huge April/May spike in the average cost per closed loan for CRM related to add on campaigns targeted at refinance opportunities, that number fell in June, dropping from $202 to $134.

53% of companies that submitted June data to TMC Benchmark were IMB's and 47% were depositories. 36% originate $500M or less annually, 25% originate between $500M-$1B, and 39% originate $1 billion per year or more in total volume.