PLEASANTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mortgages to millennial borrowers for new home purchases continued their ascent in January, accounting for 84 percent of closed loans, according to the latest Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker™ report. In December, 82 percent of closed mortgages were for new home purchases, up from 77 percent from August through November.
FHA loans remained attractive among millennials, representing 35 percent of all loans closed in January, a slight uptick from 34 percent in December. This is significantly higher than the Ellie Mae January Origination Insight Report data which showed FHA loans represented 21 percent of closed loans in the month.
FICO scores across all loan types fell slightly in January to an average of 724 from their peak of 726 from August through October. For purchases, the average FICO score was 748 for a conventional loan, 690 for an FHA loan and 734 for a VA loan.
“As the purchase market heats up, we will continue to watch the FHA purchase trend amongst millennials,” said Joe Tyrrell, Ellie Mae’s executive vice president of corporate strategy. “It is not surprising to see millennial borrowers leverage FHA loans because they typically offer lower down payments and lower average FICO score requirements than conventional loans. As more millennials enter the market, we expect to see the popularity of FHA loans continue to increase.”
Across all loan types, it took millennials an average of 49 days to close on their loans in January, a day longer than in November and December. Purchases took an average of 46 days and refinances took an average of 58 days.
In January, the hottest housing markets for millennials were in the Southeast. The top markets by percentage of millennial loans closed included Enterprise, Ala. and Owensboro, Ky.
Ellie Mae® (NYSE:ELLI) is a leading provider of innovative on-demand software solutions and services for the residential mortgage 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 75 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 a leading provider of innovative on-demand software solutions and services for the residential mortgage industry. Mortgage lenders of all sizes use Ellie Mae’s Encompass® all-in-one mortgage management solution, Mavent Compliance Service, and AllRegs research, reference and education resources to improve compliance, loan quality and efficiency across the entire mortgage lifecycle. Visit EllieMae.com or call (877) 355-4362 to learn more.
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