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""Ellie Mae"":http://www.elliemae.com/ released its most recent Origination Insight Report Wednesday, revealing that July's closing rate for all loan applications fell from June's total.
[IMAGE]The report draws data from a sampling of loan applications that go through Ellie Mae's network and mortgage management software. To get a meaningful view of lender ""pull-through,"" the company reviewed a sample of applications initiated in April to come up with a closing rate for July.
Ellie Mae found that 45.8 percent of all applications closed in July, a small drop from 46.2 percent that closed in June.
The closing rate for purchase loans rose for the third straight month.
[COLUMN_BREAK]The rate increased to 58.7 percent from 57.8 percent in June.
Ellie Mae COO Jonathan Corr said the increase could be a sign that the purchase market is ""showing some traction.""
In addition, the share of closed refinances increased 4 percent month-over-month to 58 percent, likely due to a drop in 30-year note rates to their lowest point in Ellie Mae's data.
""The 30-year note rates on closed loans declined to 3.870% in July, down from 3.992% in June, and were at the lowest point since we began tracking in August 2011,"" Corr said. ""With more borrowers ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├ï┼ôin the money,' the refinance share of closed loans rose by 4% on a month-over-month basis.
The percentage of closed conventional refinances with loan-to-value ratios (LTVs) at or above 95 percent decline for the second consecutive month to 8.7 percent, a drop that Corr said may indicate a slowdown in HARP 2.0 activity.
Time to close increased one day across all loans. Time to close on refinance loans increased to 48 days in July, while time to close on purchase loans rose to 47 days.
""The combination of extremely low interest rates and a strengthening purchase market pushed out closing times for both refinance and purchase loans in July. These time frames are similar to what we saw in January of last year, when a surge of activity challenged the industry's capacity,"" Corr said.
