NAMB Survey Details Millennials in the Homebuying Market

Aug 09, 2017

When it comes to homebuying, Millennials favor downpayments of three percent or less, according to a new survey released by NAMB—The Association of Mortgage Professionals.

However, NAMB’s survey of its membership determined that Millennial borrowers accounted for 25 percent or less of the respondents’ customer bases. Instead, Generation X borrowers remained the dominant force in the housing market, accounting for 36 to 75 percent of the survey respondents’ customer bases—and more than 25 percent of respondents said Gen Xers were between 50 to 75 percent of their customer bases. And the older borrowers are favoring an average down payment of 20 percent.

But there is one thing that Millennials and Gen Xers agree on: They prefer the digital approach to loan applications. Less than 20 percent of respondents said that borrowers want more paper in the home loan process.

“There’s a big focus on Millennials but in reality, the majority of borrowers are still over 36-years-old,” said Fred Kreger, President of NAMB. “For small mortgage businesses strategizing on getting a bigger piece of the pie in a shrinking market, it’s important to consider that most of today’s business comes not from Millennials, but from non-Millennial borrowers.”

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Phil Hall

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Aug 09, 2017

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