PLEASANTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Time to close a refinance for Millennials in May 2019 took six days longer compared to the previous month, as lower rates resulted in increased refinance activity. According to the latest Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker, average interest rates on all 30-year notes to Millennials dropped month-over-month from 4.61% in April to 4.53% in May. This marks the lowest rate since February 2018 and Millennials were quick to take advantage, though the flurry of activity caused time to close for all refinances to increase from 36 days in April to 42 days in May.

Conventional loans saw time to close for refinances jump 6 days month-over-month for Millennials, reaching 42 days in May, while time to close for VA refinances leapt from 40 days in April to 45 days in May. Millennials closed FHA refinances in 41 days in May, compared to 42 days the month prior. Time to close for Millennials on all purchase loans remained flat at 40 days month-over-month.

In the midst of peak homebuying season, overall share of refinances for Millennials dropped to 14% in May, down from 15% in April. Share of refinances for FHA loans remained flat month-over-month at 6%, while share of refinances for conventional loans decreased from 17% to 16% and share of refinances for VA loans dropped slightly from 28% to 26%.

“Refinance activity amongst Millennials continued to rise as interest rates dropped,” said Joe Tyrrell, chief operating officer at Ellie Mae. “Time to close has been trending downward recently, but in May, the volume of activity pushed the mortgage finance industry to a tipping point where it spiked dramatically. As the digitization of the mortgage process continues to evolve, increased automation will help borrowers and lenders close all loan types more efficiently, even during periods of increased activity.”

The increased level of refinance activity affected Millennials in major MSAs around the country. Time to close on refinances increased five days in the San Francisco Metropolitan Area month-over-month and six days in the Chicago Metropolitan Area. In the Austin MSA, it took Millennials 48 days to close a refinance in May compared to 34 days in April.

For all loans closed in May, 71% were Conventional and 25% were FHA, while VA and other loans accounted for 2% and 3% respectively. The average interest rate on all loan types decreased in May. Month-over-month, rates on Conventional loans dropped from 4.55% to 4.48%, FHA loans fell from 4.71% to 4.64% and VA loans lowered from 4.21% to 4.08%.

The average age for Millennial borrowers increased slightly from 30.2 in April, to 30.3 in May while the average FICO score remained the same at 721. For all loans closed, 53% were closed by married individuals while 46% of all Millennial primary borrowers were single.

Ellie Mae^® 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% 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 https://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 https://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 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 or call 877.355.4362 to learn more.

© 2019 Ellie Mae, Inc. Ellie Mae^®, Encompass^®, AllRegs^® Mavent^®, Velocify^®, the Ellie Mae logo and other trademarks or service marks of Ellie Mae, Inc. appearing herein are the property of Ellie Mae, Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Other company and product names may be trademarks or copyrights of their respective owners.

Erica Harvill
Ellie Mae, Inc.
(925) 227-5913
Erica.harvill@elliemae.com

Caitlin Coffee
Allison+Partners
(312) 635-8204
EllieMae@allisonpr.com