Black Knight Originations Market Monitor: With Mortgage Interest Rates at Highest Point Since Great Recession, Rate Lock Activity Fell Across the Board in April
Black Knight, Inc. (NYSE:BKI) revealed its latest Originations Market Monitor, highlighting a sharp rise in conforming 30-year mortgage rates to 5.42%, the highest level in nearly 13 years. Overall rate-lock activity plunged by 20% from March, driven by a notable 50% decrease in rate/term refinance activity. The cash-out refinance locks also fell 40%, resulting in a record low refi market share of 20%. Despite an 11% decline in purchase locks from March, year-over-year metrics remained steady, indicating ongoing demand.
- Government-backed lending increased as FHA and VA locks gained market share.
- Purchase locks remained flat year-over-year, showing consistent demand from homebuyers.
- Overall rate-lock volumes dropped by 20% from March.
- Rate/term refinance activity fell sharply by 50%.
- Cash-out refinance locks decreased by 40%, indicating reduced equity extraction.
- Refinance market share plummeted to 20%, the lowest since January 2018.
- Pull-through rates for refinance locks fell to 62.7%.
- Black Knight's Optimal Blue Mortgage Market Indices tracked the steep ascent of conforming 30-year rates, which finished the month at
5.42% , eclipsing recent peaks to hover at their highest point in nearly 13 years - Rate-lock production reflected the current rate environment with overall volumes dropping
20% from March, led by yet another sharp drop (-50% ) in rate/term refinance activity - Cash-out refinance locks fell
40% from last month as homeowners likely look for other avenues (HELOCs, 2nd liens, etc.) to access tappable equity without sacrificing historically low first-lien mortgage rates - The combined decline in refinance locks pushed the refi share of the market down to just
20% in April, the lowest point on record since at least January 2018, when Optimal Blue began tracking the metric - While purchase locks fell
11% from March, they remained flat on a year-over-year basis, indicating consistent and resilient demand from homebuyers - Government-backed lending picked up in April as FHA and VA locks captured market share from conforming products
- Credit scores were flat for purchases and ticked higher for rate/term refis; however, cash-out credit scores fell 8 points on average as higher-credit score borrowers move to the sidelines
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., May 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Black Knight, Inc. (NYSE:BKI) announced the release of its latest Originations Market Monitor report, looking at mortgage origination data through April 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.
"Mortgage interest rates continued their steep ascent in April, with our OBMMI daily interest rate tracker showing 30-year conforming offerings, which finished the month at
The month's pipeline data showed overall rate locks down
"Seen in the light of such quick and sharp rises in 30-year rates, April's declines in rate lock activity – though bracing – are hardly surprising," Happ continued. "That's particularly true of refinance locks when half of all mortgage holders have current first lien rates below
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 April's origination activity can be found in the full Black Knight Originations Market Monitor report, located here.
About Black Knight
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/.
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SOURCE Black Knight, Inc.
FAQ
What recent mortgage rate trends did Black Knight report for BKI?
How did the rate lock activity for BKI change in April 2022?
What percentage of the market did refinancing constitute for BKI in April 2022?
Did purchase locks show any notable changes for BKI in April 2022?