The time to close residential mortgage loans continues to drop, falling an average of two days in March from the
All loans closed an average of 44 days, the shortest time since March 2015, according to Ellie Mae's Origination Insight Report for March.
The average time to close a purchase fell from 48 days in February to 45 days in March. The time to close a refinance decreased from an average of 44 days in February to 41 days in March. Federal Housing Administration loans decreased from 47 to 44 days and Veterans Affairs loans fell from 50 to 48 days from February to March.
Meanwhile, average closing rates for all loans continued to rise to the highest level since Ellie Mae introduced the data tracking report in August 2011.
Average closing rates for all loans increased to 70.6% in March, up from 69.95 in February. Refinance closing rates rose to 66.2%, while purchase closing rates increased to just more than 75%.
However, Ellie Mae continues to see credit remain relatively tight. The company added a FICO distribution chart to the Origination Insight Report for March and found that 67% of closed loans have FICO scores of 700 or above.
