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36 | TH E M R EP O RT O R I G I NAT I O N S E R V I C I N G DATA G O V E R N M E N T S E C O N DA R Y M A R K E T THE LATEST ORIGINATION Buyers Looking to Leave Expensive Metros A recent report found that high numbers of buyers are searching outside their current city for new homes. O ne in five prospective homebuyers searched mostly for homes outside their current metro area in the first quarter of 2017, according to the Redfin Migration Report. The highest numbers of prospective buyers looking elsewhere were searching from the country's most expensive metros in coastal California and New York City. One difference between migrat - ing buyers on the coasts is that buy- ers looking to move out of the Bay Area predominantly wanted to stay in California, whereas emigrants from New York favored moving to Philadelphia. Nevertheless, at the state level, California had the largest net outflow of residents. Redfin found that 19 percent of San Francisco residents searching its listings (about 15,000 people) looked elsewhere and that 22 per - cent preferred nearby Sacramento. Another 14 percent preferred heading north to Seattle. Many also have headed south to Austin. In New York, about 7,100 buyers looked elsewhere, with 12 percent favoring Philadelphia. Los Angeles buyers also preferred looking out of state, with 9 per - cent looking in Las Vegas. In terms of sheer percentage, no metro saw a higher number than Dayton, Ohio. While the net loss was only 97 residents in the quarter, 52 percent looked elsewhere. Half of those favored Cincinnati, with 5 percent moving to Chicago. Coastal cities across the country gave up more residents to the south than any other region, the report found. At the same time, buyers looking out of state more often chose Florida. Buyers in Washington, D.C., and St. Louis favored Miami, but not as much as New Yorkers who were specifically looking to head south. Nearly a quarter chose Miami. Nearly 53 percent of searches for homes in Tampa were made by people in another metro, with 14.9 percent of those from the D.C. metro alone. At the same time, 22.1 percent of searches in Miami from the outside were from New York. The one thing the coastal cit - ies with large outflow have in common is that they're expensive, despite opportunities. "Fast-growing coastal cities may be generating the high-paying jobs, but they haven't created enough budget-friendly housing to keep pace," said Nela Richardson, Redfin's Chief Economist. "The price of real estate and desire for homeownership is compelling many to uproot and seek housing in more affordable communities." Richardson noted that even a Bay Area family with two solid incomes can struggle to afford a modest home. "For many, the only path to homeownership is to pack up and move out," she said. Not everyone everywhere is looking to get out, of course. Buyers in Chicago, Boston, and Seattle were the most eager to stay put, each reporting at least 91 percent of buyers looking within their respective metros. Though Washington, D.C. residents often looked to the warmer climes of Florida, the report said nearly 91 percent of residents looking within the metro. Refis Continue Dip While FICO Scores Jump The average FICO score for borrowers in March was 721. R efinancing has con- tinued its downward slope, dipping to just 37 percent of all loan originations in March, according to the March 2017 Origination Insight Report released by Ellie Mae in April. That's down from February, when refis accounted for 43 percent of all loans, and also down year-over-year. Refi - nances accounted for 45 percent of loan originations in March 2016. Covering a sampling of loan applications closed via Ellie Mae's Encompass system, the Insight Report revealed details on loan types, closing times, mortgage rates, and more. According to the report, the breakdown of loans by type remained pretty steady for the month, with conventional loans representing 63 percent of originations, followed by FHA (23 percent), VA (10 percent), and other types (4 percent). Closing times, however, saw improvements in March, with the average time-to-close (across all loans) dropping by three days—down to 43. In February, days-to-close came in at 46, and in January, it was even higher at 51. Loans that took the longest to close in March were VA refinance loans at 46 days. Mortgage rates on ARMs and 30-year mortgages were both up for the month, jumping to 5.6 per - cent and 4.39 percent, respectively. Last year, the ARM rate for March was 4.4 percent, while the 30-year rate was 4.22 percent. Rates were highest on conventional loans for the month; ARMs came in it 6.9 percent, while 30-year loans hit 4.5 percent. As for borrowers themselves, the average FICO score on all closed loans was up for the month, increasing to 721. Across all loan types, most borrowers (nearly 45 percent) had a FICO of 750 or above. Another 24 percent had a score between 700 and 749, while 20 percent had one between 650 and 699. FICO scores were lowest on FHA loans and highest on con- ventional loans, where the average borrower had a score of 753. Sixty-six percent of all refinances had FICO scores of over 700.