PLEASANTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Refinances among Millennial borrowers regained their popularity in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to the latest Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker™. December was the third straight month refinances accounted for 15 percent of all closed loans for Millennial borrowers – the highest percentage of refinances for this demographic since February 2017’s annual high of 17 percent. The percentage of closed purchase loans remained at 84 percent, decreasing from June 2017’s peak of 90 percent.
Specifically, the percentage of Conventional refinances remained at 19 percent, holding steady since October, while FHA refinance loans stayed at six percent from the month prior. The percentage of Conventional purchase and FHA purchase loans also remained the same from November to December at 80 and 94 percent, respectively.
“With seasonality and low inventory levels at the end of the year, Millennial borrowers continued to take advantage of refinance options during the fourth quarter,” said Joe Tyrrell, executive vice president of corporate strategy at Ellie Mae. “Many may have been driven by a desire to take advantage of low interest rates given uncertainty about potential rate hikes in the new year.”
Other statistics of note for Millennial borrowers in December included:
- The average 30-year note increased slightly from 4.18 in November to 4.22 in December, still lower than 2017’s highest monthly average of 4.34 in April.
- The average time to close all loans held at 44 days in December.
- Average time to close a refinance held at 45 days, while the time to close a purchase also remained flat at 42 days, the same since June 2017.
- Average FICO scores for all closed loans fell one point from the month prior to 722.
The top Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) for Millennials by percentage of mortgage loans closed in December included Casper, Wyo. (71 percent), Williston, N.D. (63 percent), as well as Victoria, Texas and Mount Pleasant, Mich. (both 61 percent).
Ellie Mae® (NYSE:ELLI) is the leading cloud-based platform provider for the mortgage finance industry.
The Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker is an interactive online tool that provides access to up-to-date demographic data about this new generation of homebuyers. It mines data from a robust sampling of approximately 80 percent of all closed mortgages dating back to 2014 that were initiated on Ellie Mae’s Encompass® all-in-one mortgage management solution. Given the size of this sample and Ellie Mae’s market share, it is a strong proxy of Millennial mortgage indicators across the country. Searches can be tailored by borrower geography, age, gender, marital status, FICO score and amortization type.
For more information, visit http://elliemae.com/millennial-tracker.
ABOUT THE ELLIE MAE MILLENNIAL TRACKER
The Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker focuses on Millennial mortgage applications during specific time periods. Ellie Mae defines Millennials as applicants born between the years 1980 and 1999. New data is updated on the first Monday of every month for two months prior.
The Millennial Tracker is a subset of our Origination Insight Report, which details aggregated, anonymized data pulled from Ellie Mae’s Encompass origination platform. Additional information regarding the Origination Insight Report can be found at http://elliemae.com/resources/origination-insight-reports. News organizations have the right to reuse this data, provided that Ellie Mae, Inc. is credited as the source.
ABOUT ELLIE MAE
Ellie Mae (NYSE:ELLI) is the leading cloud-based platform provider for the mortgage finance industry. Ellie Mae’s technology solutions enable lenders to originate more loans, reduce origination costs, and reduce the time to close, all while ensuring the highest levels of compliance, quality and efficiency. Visit EllieMae.com or call (877) 355-4362 to learn more.
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