Ellie Mae Releases January 2013 Origination Insight Report

Ellie Mae Releases January 2013 Origination Insight Report

Refinances Accounted for Nearly Three-Quarters of All Closed Loans

PLEASANTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ellie Mae^® (NYS: ELLI) , a leading provider of enterprise-level, on-demand automated solutions for the residential mortgage industry, today released its Origination Insight Report for January 2013. The report draws its data and insights from a robust sampling of the significant volume of loan applications—more than 20% of all originations in the United States—that flow through Ellie Mae's Encompass360^® mortgage management software and Ellie Mae Network™.

MONTHLY ORIGINATION OVERVIEW FOR JANUARY 2013

*All references to months should be read as month ended.

More information and analysis of closed and denied loans by loan purpose and investor are available in the full report athttp://www.elliemae.com/aboutus/about_reports.asp.

To get a meaningful view of lender "pull-through," Ellie Mae reviewed a sampling of loan applications initiated 90 days prior (i.e., the October 2012 applications) to calculate an overall closing rate of 55.0% in January 2013, up slightly from 54.7% in December 2012, which is mostly due to an increase in refinances (see full report).

"Since last summer, the refinance share has been climbing steadily and in January 2013 it reached 73%, the highest level since we began tracking this data in August 2011," said Jonathan Corr, president and chief operating officer of Ellie Mae. "Continued low interest rates and home-buying seasonality are big reasons for this shift, but so is HARP 2.0 activity. Closed conventional refinances with LTVs of 95%-plus ticked up slightly to 11.6% in January 2013 from the previous high of 11.4% in December 2012, indicating that more underwater borrowers are being able to refinance thanks to HARP2.0.

"The share of FHA loans versus conventional loans declined to 18% in January 2013, which has been a new low since our tracking began." Corr continued, "This may indicate that higher premiums and other program changes are making FHA loans less attractive."

Corr also added, "Average credit scores for conventional loans in January 2013 were slightly lower compared to the same time last year (see full report). A year ago, the average credit score was 769 for a conventional refinance and 763 for a similar purchase. In January 2013, those averages dropped to 763 for refinances and 760 for purchases. While the overall credit score requirement remains tight, it appears that we are beginning to see some loosening."

About Ellie Mae Origination Insight Report

In 2012, the total volume of mortgages that ran through Ellie Mae's Encompass360 mortgage management software was approximately three million loan applications, or 20% of all U.S. mortgage originations. The Origination Insight Report mines its application data from a robust sampling of approximately 44% of all mortgage applications that were initiated on the Encompass origination platform. Given the size of this sample and Ellie Mae's market share, the Company believes the Origination Insight Report is a strong proxy of the underwriting standards that are being employed by lenders across the country.

The Origination Insight Report focuses on loans that closed or were denied in a specific month and compares their characteristics to similar loans that closed or were denied three and six months earlier. The closing rate is calculated on a 90-day cycle rather than on a monthly basis because most loan applications typically take one and a half to two months from application to closing. Loans that do not close could still be active applications, or applications withdrawn by consumers or denied for incompleteness or nonqualification.

The Origination Insight Report details aggregated, anonymized data and does not disclose client-specific or proprietary information.

News organizations have the right to reuse this data, provided that Ellie Mae, Inc., is credited as the source.

About Ellie Mae

Ellie Mae, Inc. (NYS: ELLI) is a leading provider of on-demand automation solutions for the mortgage industry. The Company offers an end-to-end solution, delivered using a Software-as-a-Service model that serves as the core operating system for mortgage originators and spans customer relationship management, loan origination and business management. The Company also hosts the Ellie Mae Network™ that allows Encompass^® users to electronically conduct business transactions with the lenders and settlement service providers they work with to process and fund loans. The Company's offerings include the Encompass, Encompass360^® and DataTrac^® mortgage management software systems.

Ellie Mae was founded in 1997 and is based in Pleasanton, California. To learn more about Ellie Mae, visit www.EllieMae.com or call 877.355.4362.

© 2013 Ellie Mae, Inc. Ellie Mae^®, Encompass^®, Encompass360^®, DataTrac^®, Ellie Mae Network™ and the Ellie Mae logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Ellie Mae, Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Other company and product names may be trademarks or copyrights of their respective owners.

Campbell Lewis Communications
Bill Campbell, 212-995-8057
bill@campbelllewis.com

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