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TH E M R EP O RT | 41 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 Millennials Go Conventional for Home Loans The next-gen of homebuyers is embracing conventional mortgage when it comes to applying for loans. T he most recent Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker data shows that 67 percent of closed loans secured by millennials were conventional. This represents the highest percentage in two years for conventional mortgages among that group. While Tracker data shows women were more likely to utilize FHA loans and conventional loans were still the most popular loan type. Ellie Mae defines millennials as people born between 1980 and 1999. The Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker is an interactive tool that offers access to recent demo - graphic statistics about this young generation of homebuyers. The Millennial Tracker focuses on mortgage applications over specific time periods. The Millennial Tracker gathers data from a diverse sampling of roughly 80 percent of all closed mortgages initiated by Ellie Mae since 2014. The Millennial Tracker is a subset of Ellie Mae's Origination Insight Report, detail - ing anonymous data pulled from their Encompass platform. Joe Tyrell, EVP of Corporate Strategy for Ellie Mae, said FHA loans have accounted for less than 30 percent of total millennial loans in the in the past two months. "We view this as an indica - tion that more millennials are qualifying for conventional mort- gages," Tyrell said. The highest rates of millen- nial women homebuyers for January were found in St. Cloud, Minnesota, and Green Bay, Wisconsin, while the highest rates for millennial men were in cities such as Macon, Georgia, and Fairmont, West Virginia. The January Millennial Tracker also found 81 percent of all closed loans to millenni - als were purchases, representing a 3 percent decrease from the previous month. It also revealed the average FICO score of closing millennial borrowers in January was 723, up one point from the previous month. Additionally, millennial bor - rowers were shown to take 45 days on average to close their loans. Men averaged 45 days and women averaged 44 days. Refinances rose to 18 percent of all closed loans, which had previously remained steady since October 2017.