Mortgagebot Study Finds Future Loan Opportunities Will Be Online

MEQUON, Wis. - Mortgagebot has released its Benchmarks 2007 study, which is based on a comprehensive survey and analysis of the online lending practices and procedures that have been implemented at more than 3,600 mortgage-lending websites maintained by Mortgagebot for clients.

The research is made available to client financials at no charge.

"Our Benchmarks study analyzes the overall online lending practices of all Mortgagebot clients, and the results help them get a sense of how effectively they're responding to industry trends, and how well their businesses compare with their peers," said CEO Scott Happ.

Among the findings, according to Mortgagebot:

* Young homeowners are turning to the Web for mortgages. More than half of all online mortgage applications are submitted by borrowers who are between 19 and 39 years of age.

* One-fourth of the lenders studied now originate more than half of their loan volume via the online channel.

* The number of lenders implementing home-equity functionality in the direct-to-consumer channel has more than quadrupled since 2004.

* Web-savvy borrowers apply for mortgages during peak business hours. Most borrowers visit a mortgage-lending website between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., which indicates that they are more likely to apply for a loan while on a break or during a lunch hour than while at home in the evening.

* The number of lenders implementing online, RESPA-related disclosure functionality has nearly tripled since 2004.

* Online lending solutions are moving strongly into the hands of loan officers-the implementation of loan-officer-specific websites has more than doubled since 2004.

"Benchmarks 2007 also disproves some common online-lending 'myths'," noted Happ. "For example, the median household income and credit score of the average online borrower is significantly higher than some reports would have us believe. Our nationwide data indicates that the median annual income is more than $85,000 and the average credit score is about 709. We've also learned that the quality of online borrowers is much higher than some industry pundits claim," Happ said. "Online loan applications taken by our clients have a more than 70% approval rate. And the median loan amount was $145,000 against a median purchase price of $210,000, which equates to a loan-to-value ratio of 69%."

For info: www.mortgagebot.com.