Black Knight Originations Market Monitor: Despite a Plateau in Rates, Mortgage Production Fell Again in May, With Rate Locks Down Across All Loan Purposes
Black Knight, Inc. (NYSE:BKI) released its latest Originations Market Monitor report, indicating a decline in mortgage production despite a temporary plateau in conforming 30-year rates, which ended May at 5.34%. Overall rate locks dropped by 4.8% month-over-month, with refinance activity plummeting 23.6% and purchase locks down 2.3%. Government-backed loans gained market share, while borrower credit scores fell significantly. This reflects a challenging market environment characterized by high prices and limited inventory.
- Government-backed FHA and VA loans gained market share.
- Purchase locks constituted 82% of total origination activity, the highest since 2018.
- Overall rate locks decreased by 4.8% month-over-month.
- Refinance activity plunged 23.6% from April, marking an 89.9% year-over-year decline.
- Average loan amounts decreased from $362,000 to $359,000.
- Borrower credit scores dropped significantly, particularly in cash-out refinances, now averaging below 700.
- Black Knight's Optimal Blue Mortgage Market Indices tracked a rise in conforming 30-year rates entering May, which cleared
5.5% before pulling back to finish the month at5.34% , down 7 basis points from April - Despite the leveling off in rates, overall lock volumes fell another
4.8% from April, with monthly declines seen across both rate/term (-23.6% ) and cash-out (-11.9% ) refinances - While purchase volumes fell
2.3% from April and were flat year-over-year, looking at lock counts – to exclude the impact of home price appreciation on volume – shows purchases down8.5% from last May - While struggling under high home prices, lack of inventory and a higher rate environment, purchases now make up the largest share of rate locks (
82% ) since Optimal Blue began tracking the data in 2018 - Government-backed FHA and VA locks captured additional market share from conforming products, a trend also likely reflected in the decline seen in the average loan amount
- Borrower credit scores fell in May, led by another steep drop in cash-out refinance credit scores, which are now below 700 on average, down 20 points in the last three months and 33 points year-over-year
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., June 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Black Knight, Inc. (NYSE:BKI) announced the release of its latest Originations Market Monitor report, looking at mortgage origination data through May month-end. Leveraging daily rate lock data from Black Knight's Optimal Blue PPE – mortgage lending's most widely used pricing engine – the Originations Market Monitor provides the industry's earliest and most comprehensive view of origination activity.
"At the start of May, it seemed mortgage interest rates would continue their upward climb and, indeed, rates did rise above
The month's pipeline data showed overall rate locks down
"The month's data shows a market struggling under the weight of significantly higher rates than Americans have enjoyed for the better part of the last three years," Happ continued. "We've seen rate/term refinance activity essentially evaporate and cash-out activity is now suffering as well. While there is volume pressure across the board due to rising rates, purchase volumes are holding up the best and are now driving
Each month's Originations Market Monitor provides high-level origination metrics for the U.S. and the top 20 metropolitan statistical areas by share of total origination volume. Much more detail on May's origination activity can be found in the full Black Knight Originations Market Monitor report, located here.
Black Knight, Inc. (NYSE:BKI) is an award-winning software, data and analytics company that drives innovation in the mortgage lending and servicing and real estate industries, as well as the capital and secondary markets. Businesses leverage our robust, integrated solutions across the entire homeownership life cycle to help retain existing customers, gain new customers, mitigate risk and operate more effectively.
Our clients rely on our proven, comprehensive, scalable products and our unwavering commitment to delivering superior client support to achieve their strategic goals and better serving their customers. For more information on Black Knight, please visit www.blackknightinc.com/.
For more information:
Michelle Kersch
904.854.5043
michelle.kersch@bkfs.com
Mitch Cohen
704.890.8158
mitch.cohen@bkfs.com
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SOURCE Black Knight, Inc.
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