Millennials Took Advantage of Lower Rate to Refinance, Latest Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker Finds

PLEASANTON, Calif. (March 06, 2019) – Millennial homebuyers took advantage of slightly lower interest rates in January to refinance their mortgages. Refinances by Millennial borrowers accounted for 13 percent of all closed loans, the highest percentage since February 2018, according to the latest Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker™. Similarly, the January Ellie Mae Origination Insight Report, which explores trends among borrowers of all ages, showed that refinances climbed to 35 percent of closed loans in January, up from 29 percent in December of 2018.

Refinances also made up a larger share of each type of loan in January. Refinances for Conventional loans for Millennial borrowers rose to 14 percent, up from 11 percent in December, while FHA refinances rose from 6 to 7 percent in January. During that same time period, VA refinances rose to 35 percent, up from 27 percent the month prior.

“With average interest rates slightly falling in January, Millennials took advantage of refinance opportunities,” said Joe Tyrrell, executive vice president of strategy and technology at Ellie Mae. “While we continue to see Millennials enter the housing market and exercise their purchase power, the uptick in refinances may indicate maturity among this generation who previously purchased a home and are looking for an opportunity to take advantage of lower monthly interest payments.”

In January 2019, the average Millennial primary borrower refinancing their home was 33 years old, with a FICO score of 728. Two-thirds of those who refinanced were married (66 percent) while one-third were single (33 percent), and one percent were unspecified. Additionally, the majority of primary borrowers who refinanced were male (63 percent).

Other key findings from the January 2019 Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker include:

• The share of Conventional loans increased to 69 percent of all closed loans, slightly up from 68 percent the month prior, while FHA loans held steady at 27 percent from December.
• The average FICO score of Millennial borrowers who closed on loans in January increased slightly to 722, up from 721 in December.
• The top five markets for Millennial borrowers in January were Warrensburg, Mo., Somerset, Pa., Ottumwa, Iowa, Minot, N.D., and Williston, N.D.

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.

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.

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 shorten the time to close, all while ensuring the highest levels of compliance, quality and efficiency. Visit EllieMae.com to learn more.