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M R EP O RT | 45 O R I G I NAT I O N S E R V I C I N G DATA G O V E R N M E N T S E C O N DA R Y M A R K E T THE LATEST ORIGINATION Refinances Surged 20% in Q4 2019 The quarter was called a "banner period." N ew data from AT- TOM Data Solution reports that 1.27 mil- lion refinances were secured during Q 4 2019—a 20% increase from the prior quarter and a 104% annual increase. The number of refinances secured during Q 4 2019 is at its highest point since Q 3 2013. ATTOM states refinances se- cured during Q 4 2019 represented an estimated $391.3 billion in total dollar volume, which is up 19% from the prior quarter and 138% from Q 4 2018. The total number of loan origi- nations rose 40% annually during Q 4 2019 to 2.27 million, which is the highest point since Q 3 2016. "The fourth quarter was a banner period for residential mortgages across the United States, as declining interest rates and a strong economy helped spur more than 2 million bor- rowers to sign on for new or refinanced loans," said Todd Teta, Chief Product Officer at ATTOM Data Solutions. "Refinancing largely drove the trend, with more than twice as many homeowners trading in higher-interest mort- gages for cheaper ones than in the same period of 2018. "These trends could all change when the economic fallout from the Coronavirus outbreak hits. But the last few months of 2019 saw a burst of lending activity not seen in the U.S. housing market for several years." ATTOM also stated lenders originated 1.27 million refinance mortgages during Q 4 2019, which is up 19.6% from Q 3 2019 and up 104.2% from Q 4 2018. New York saw refinances originations rise 91.5% annually, Los Angeles saw refinances rise 158.8%, Chicago's refinances were up 144.5%, Dallas rose 90%, and Houston increased by 32.9%. Beaumont, Texas, and McAllen, Texas, were the only metros that saw drops in refinances, falling 6.8% and 9.1%, respectively. In addition, Ellie Mae revealed refinances represented 48% of all loans closed in February, which is a slight increase from the prior month's 46%. Purchase loans made up 52% of closed loans in February. The time to close all loans fell to 43 days in February—a drop from 48 days in January. The clos- ing rate on all loans rose to 78.3%, which is up from 77.2% in January. Purchases had a closing rate of 80.7% and refinance closed at 76%. "Interest rates continued to decline into February which we believe is causing us to see a small refinance rebound," said Jonathan Corr, President, and CEO of Ellie Mae. "We will wait to see what the impacts of global factors, like stock market declines and the coronavirus, have on the housing market as we enter the spring. We continue to see our lenders consistently lowering their time to close and closing more loans as they leverage digital mortgage technology across more aspects of the loan origination workflow."