Millennials Push To Refinance With Interest Rates Hitting A New Historic Low

Ellie Mae's Millennial Tracker reported a 45% increase in refinance activity of all loans closed by millennial borrowers in November 2020. This marks a 3% increase from the previous month and the highest percentage since May, according to the report.

According to Ellie Mae, year-over-year, refinance share increased by 14 percentage points. The continued increase in refinance activity happened as the average interest rate on all 30-year loans dipped for the eighth consecutive month down to 2.97% – the lowest point since Ellie Mae began tracking the data in January 2016.

Loan volume has been increased since this recent push from millennials, causing the average time to close a refinanced loan to increase by two days month-over-month, according to the report. Ellie Mae also revealed that overall, the average time to close for all loan types increased from 49 days in October to 52 days in November.

“With interest rates reaching historic lows, millennials have refinanced to take advantage of a significant savings opportunity they will see play out over the long-term,” said Joe Tyrrell, president, ICE Mortgage Technology. “Lenders are continuing to manage the refinance pipeline by investing in virtual solutions such as eClosing, online borrower portals, and virtual verifications, and turning this boom in loan volume into business growth.”

Additionally, the report states that older millennials between the ages of 30 and 40 saw refinance share increase to 52% in November, while younger millennials between 21 and 29 saw the refinance share increase to 24%.

Click here to read more from Ellie Mae's Millennial Tracker.