During August, refinances for millennials increased to 25 percent of all closed loans, up 2 percent from the previous month and the highest percentage since December 2015, according to the latest Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker.
The average interest rates on all 30-year notes dipped to 4.059 percent in August, the lowest since December 2016, which Ellie Mae said spurred the surge in refinances for millennials.
“We are seeing millennial homeowners who may have purchased homes only a few years ago quickly taking advantage of the industry’s extremely low interest rates,” Ellie Mae Chief Operating Officer Joe Tyrrell said in a release. “We will also be watching to see if the increased purchase power from a lower rate environment enables some millennials to make the leap into homeownership as we enter the fall homebuying season.”
According to the tracker, time-to-close for all loans increased slightly to 42 days in August, compared with 41 days in July.
The average age of millennial homebuyers in August remained at 30.5, the highest average since November 2015. The average FICO score for millennial borrowers stayed steady at 728, the highest average since May 2015.