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Millennial Borrowers Lead the Way in Loan Closing

Millennials could close home loans in 39 days in March, down from 41 days in the previous month according to the latest Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker data that was released on Wednesday. Data from the tracker also indicated a slight increase in the age of millennial homebuyers over the same period last year to 30.1 years from 29.5 years.

“With the ongoing adoption of digital mortgage solutions, millennial homebuyers were able to close purchase loans in 39 days in March, the shortest amount of time since Ellie Mae began tracking millennial loan data in January 2014,” said Joe Tyrrell, EVP, Corporate Strategy for Ellie Mae.

Being tech-savvy also helped this group to close loans faster. According to Tyrell, “As more millennials reach the prime homebuying age of 29 to 32 years, they are finding a mortgage experience leveraging technology that is fast and engaging in ways that their parents couldn’t imagine when they were buying their first home.”

While the share of all loans closed by millennials in March fell by a day to 41 days from the prior month, VA loans showed the fastest closing times falling to 44 days in March compared to 56 days in February.

The share of VA and FHA loans also saw a significant uptick during the month as millennials continued to take advantage of various loan options to buy a home, the report said. Conventional purchase loans closed by millennial borrowers rose to 85 percent in March, up from 80 percent in February. While the share of FHA purchase loans rose to 96 percent month-over-month, VA purchase loans saw the most significant increase in March at 79 percent, up from 66 percent in February, the report indicated.

Among millennial buyers, the tracker found that males were listed as the primary borrower on 63 percent of the closed loans, while women represented 32 percent. Married millennials represented 52 percent of all closed loans and 47 percent of the closed loans were for single millennials, the tracker revealed.

While the average FICO score for millennial borrowers fell to 721 in March from 724 in the previous month, the FICO scores for women was 722 against 723 for men. The tracker found that the average loan-to-value (LTV) score for millennials was also higher compared to other borrowers at 87 against an average of 79.

At 73 percent, Dyersburg, Tennessee led the market for the most number of millennial home loans closed, followed by Binghamton, New York; Fairmont, West Virginia; and Mount Sterling, Kentucky.

About Author: Radhika Ojha

Radhika Ojha is an independent writer and editor. A former Online Editor and currently a reporter for MReport, she is a graduate of the University of Pune, India, where she received her B.A. in Commerce with a concentration in Accounting and Marketing and an M.A. in Mass Communication. Upon completion of her master’s degree, Ojha worked at a national English daily publication in India (The Indian Express) where she was a staff writer in the cultural and arts features section. Ojha also worked as Principal Correspondent at HT Media Ltd and at Honeywell as an executive in corporate communications. She and her husband currently reside in Houston, Texas.
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