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46 WHY 20 PERCENT DOWN PAYMENT IS NOT IDEAL FOR MILLENNIALS While it might be the industry gold standard, the "typical" 20 percent down payment doesn't exactly go well with the majority of first-time millennial borrowers. When queried about their quintessential down payment level, two in three—or 68 percent—of homebuyers in this cohort say they'd prefer to put down under 20 percent, according to the latest ValueInsured Modern Homebuyer survey. At least in terms of ideal down, the "new normal" down payment seems to be 10 percent. Nearly one in four (24 percent) opted for this level; another 11 percent say that a 15 percent down would be just fine with them. If granted the option to select their down payment level, seven percent of all millennial first-time buyers fancy a zero-percent- down payment loan, the survey reveals. In a perfect world, 26 percent desire to put down three to five percent. Strictly speaking, one in three (33 percent) say their ideal down payment is up to five percent, the survey notes. Why such diminutive down payments? Most of the respondents cited "eagerness to buy immediately" as their prime motivator, with the understanding that their more paltry down payment could result in a higher interest rate and a bigger monthly mortgage bill. But it appears that for one in three homebuyers in this age group, trading less upfront cash for more money on the backend is the perfect tradeoff. en, there's this: 12 percent surveyed contend they could afford to give more money but would rather free up capital for other investments instead. For the record, 15 percent of survey takers selected a 20 down payment as their ideal, while 17 percent prefer a payment of more than 20 percent, effectively making buyers who want to put a down payment of 20 percent or more a minority (32 percent). Almost all in this group maintain that having a lower monthly mortgage bill is the impetus behind their squirreling away more dough for their down payment. Another 10 percent say they're planning to put down more because they're receiving a cash gift to help augment their own down payment nest egg. TRACKING SERIOUS DELINQUENCIES Freddie Mac has released its latest Monthly Volume Summary, which provides information on Freddie Mac's mortgage- related portfolios, securities issuance, risk management, delinquencies, debt activities and other investments. is latest Monthly Volume Summary is comprised of data from January 2018. Freddie Mac's Monthly Volume Summary for January reveals that Freddie's total mortgage portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 0.3 percent in January. is is down quite a bit compared to January 2017, when Freddie's portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 3.7 percent. It's much closer to the January 2016 rate of 1.6 percent. e aggregate unpaid principal balance of Freddie's mortgage-related investments portfolio increased by approximately $2.4 billion in January 2018, a jump of nearly $2 billion over the monthly total increase from a year prior ($0.5 billion in January 2017). It's still shy of the aggregate unpaid principal balance from January 2016—$2.7 billion, according to Freddie's records. Freddie reports that the single-family seriously delinquent rate (representing loans more than 90 days overdue) decreased from 1.08 percent in December to 1.07 percent in January. For comparison's sake, the seriously delinquent rate decreased from 1.00 percent in December to 0.99 percent in January. Stepping back another year, Freddie's seriously delinquent rate for January 2016 came in at 1.33 percent—a far cry from the 3.20 percent rate logged in January 2013. (Fannie Mae also showed a decreasing single-family serious delinquency rate in January 2018, dropping 1 basis point to 1.23 percent.) Freddie's single-family refinance-loan purchase and guarantee volume was $9.3 billion for January 2018, representing 41 percent of total single-family mortgage portfolio purchases and issuances. is is compared to $20.9 billion in January 2017, when single-family refinance-loan purchase and guarantee volume represented 59 percent of total single-family mortgage portfolio purchases and issuances. During January 2017, approximately 5 percent of Freddie's total single-family refinance volume was comprised of relief refinance mortgages. What were those numbers in January 2016? According to Freddie, single-family refinance-loan purchase and guarantee volume was $34.5 billion in January, representing 80 percent of total mortgage portfolio purchases or issuances. was the national year- over-year increase in home prices for January 2018. Source: CoreLogic Home Price Index, published in March 2018 STAT INSIGHT 6.6%

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