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More Millennials Embracing Conventional Mortgage Loans

The most recent Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker [1] data shows that 67 percent of closed loans secured by millennials were conventional. This represents the highest percentage in two years for conventional mortgages among that group. While Tracker data shows women were more likely to utilize FHA loans, conventional loans were still the most popular.

Ellie Mae [2] defines millennials as people born between 1980 and 1999. The Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker is an interactive tool that offers access to recent demographic statistics about this young generation of homebuyers. The Tracker focuses on mortgage applications over specific time periods.

The Millennial Tracker gathers data from a diverse sampling of roughly 80 percent of all closed mortgages initiated by Ellie Mae since 2014. The Tracker is a subset of Ellie Mae’s Origination Insight Report, detailing anonymous data pulled from their Encompass platform.

Joe Tyrell, EVP of Corporate Strategy for Ellie Mae, said FHA loans have accounted for less than 30 percent of total millennial loans in the in the past two months.

“We view this as an indication that more millennials are qualifying for conventional mortgages,” said Tyrell.

The highest rates of millennial women homebuyers for January were found in St. Cloud, Minnesota, and Green Bay, Wisconsin, while the highest rates for millennial men were in cities such as Macon, Georgia, and Fairmont, West Virginia.

The January Millennial Tracker also found 81 percent of all closed loans to millennials were purchases, representing a 3 percent decrease from the previous month. It also revealed the average FICO score of closing millennial borrowers in January was 723, up one point from the previous month.

Additionally, millennial borrowers were shown to take 45 days on average to close their loans. Men averaged 45 days and women averaged 44 days. Refinances rose to 18 percent of all closed loans, which had previously remained steady since October 2017.