In today’s HousingWire Daily episode HW+ Managing Editor Brena Nath joins Mortgage Editor James Kleimann to discuss the most compelling articles reported from the HousingWire newsroom. The pair review Kleimann’s recent article, which is part of HW+ Premium Content, that digs deeper into the latest mortgage application pull-through rate and why LOs say some applications aren’t making it to the finish line.

For some background on the interview, here’s a snippet of the article:

Lonnie Glessner isn’t normally one to turn down business. But with origination volume expected to exceed $3.4 trillion this year, stretching the capacity limits of lenders and everyone else in the housing ecosystem, some mortgage applicants simply haven’t been worth his while.

“I have a refinance client in California and they own a geodesic dome home,” said Glessner, a senior loan officer at Draper & Kramer Mortgage in Englewood, Colorado. “They are nearly impossible to finance, thus not worth my team’s time currently. We can’t be chasing rabbits all over the park right now. My team of LOAs, processors, assistant processors, underwriters and closers are still overwhelmed with business…I need to keep it easier for them.”

The geo-dome owner was among the tens of thousands of mortgage applicants that didn’t end up getting funded during the third quarter. According to the most recent Mortgage Bankers Association report on profits, 72% of mortgage applications in the third quarter were funded by independent mortgage banks, known as the pull-through rate.

Historical data from the MBA shows a huge variance in pull-through rates. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the rate checked in at 78%. Its low point over the last five years was 67%, in the first quarter of 2020. For the most part, the pull-through rate has hovered in the low 70s over the last five years.

HousingWire Daily examines the most compelling articles reported from the HousingWire newsroom. Each afternoon, we provide our listeners with a deeper look into the stories coming across our newsroom that are helping Move Markets Forward. Hosted by the HW team and produced by Alcynna Lloyd and Victoria Wickham.

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