New Data Outlines U.S. Consumer Perceptions of Credit Scores and Home Values

CLEARWATER, Fla. - June 29, 2018 - PRLog -- Despite increasing household debt and mortgage balances, new data reveals that most American consumers who were interested in applying for a Purchase, Refinance or Reverse mortgage in the first quarter of 2018 perceived their credit score to be "good." The Q1 2018 Mortgage Consumer Profile Report, which is published by Best Rate Referrals, also found that 70% of consumers interested in a Purchase loan estimated their score to be "good," and 15% perceive their scores to be "excellent" or "fair" respectively. Most American homeowners interested in a Refinance mortgage felt their scores were either "excellent" (26%) or "good" (66%). Recent reports detail that consumer confidence in February of 2018 reached its highest level since 2000, driven by the view of an improving labor force and business investments.

Consumer-Estimated Credit Score ― Share of Volume (SOV) by Loan Type ― Q1 2018 vs. 2017

	Purchase		Refinance		Reverse
Estimated Credit Score	Q1 2018	2017	Q1 2018	2017	Q1 2018	2017
Excellent (750+)	15.42%	21.69%	25.91%	10.73%	9.77%	10.66%
Good (700-749)	70.51%	51.03%	66.28%	88.07%	83.26%	84.79%
Fair (650-699)	14.07%	27.28%	7.81%	1.20%	6.96%	4.55%

There are regional differences in credit score perceptions with western states having the highest share of credit scores estimated by consumers as "excellent." According to Experian, the average VantageScore for American consumers was 675 in 2017. Experian also stated that for first time, there are more Americans with very high scores (Super Prime) than very low scores (Deep Subprime).

Consumer-Estimated Credit Score ― SOV by Loan Type & Geographic Region ― Q1 2018

Estimated Credit Score	East North Central	East South Central	Mid-Atlantic	Mountain	New England	Pacific	South Atlantic	West North Central	West South Central
Purchase
Excellent	20.70%	17.85%	23.94%	23.18%	25.63%	25.69%	20.25%	20.28%	15.30%
Good	50.74%	52.11%	52.91%	46.54%	51.11%	50.21%	51.79%	49.87%	38.05%
Fair	28.57%	30.05%	23.14%	30.28%	23.26%	24.10%	27.96%	29.85%	19.87%
Refinance
Excellent	9.58%	6.80%	9.55%	11.11%	14.72%	15.52%	11.27%	7.67%	10.26%
Good	89.50%	92.02%	89.12%	87.40%	84.33%	83.27%	87.62%	91.27%	86.21%
Fair	0.91%	1.19%	1.34%	1.50%	0.96%	1.21%	1.11%	1.06%	1.46%
Reverse
Excellent	10.73%	6.37%	8.99%	14.35%	12.60%	15.29%	10.96%	8.33%	7.34%
Good	84.79%	87.25%	87.70%	80.59%	82.68%	80.45%	84.37%	87.75%	84.90%
Fair	4.47%	6.37%	3.31%	5.06%	4.72%	4.26%	4.66%	3.92%	4.74%

Home Market Value Perceptions

Consumer estimates for current home values went up on average (14%) in Q1 2018 among Americans interested in a refinance mortgage with the largest increase (27%) from states in the Pacific region. From Q4 2017 to Q1 2018, National Association of Realtors (NAR) calculated a 5.7% increase in the median sales price of existing single-family homes in metropolitan areas across the U.S.  The Q1 2018 Mortgage Consumer Profile Report, now available for download, also outlines the top 10 consumer profiles for the Purchase, Refinance and Reverse mortgage markets in Q1 2018.

Average Current Home Market Value ― By Loan Type & Geographic Region ― Q1 2018 vs. 2017

U.S. Region	Q1 2018 Value	2017 Value	Change
All Regions	$304,770	$266,284	14%
East North Central	$249,001	$230,733	8%
East South Central	$239,325	$228,503	5%
Mid-Atlantic	$300,510	$248,997	21%
Mountain	$302,456	$257,155	18%
New England	$327,716	$291,551	12%
Pacific	$435,351	$343,950	27%
South Atlantic	$305,585	$265,583	15%
West North Central	$254,007	$225,304	13%
West South Central	$270,235	$257,306	5%

The data in the Q1 2018 Mortgage Consumer Profile Report is comprised of inquiries generated by Best Rate Referrals during the period of January 1, 2017 through March 31, 2018 combined with Neustar ElementOne data. Subjectivity was applied to Neustar ElementOne data, at times combining high-indexing characteristics to define attributes.

About Best Rate Referrals

Best Rate Referrals is an award-winning consumer finance marketing firm that is an industry leader in generating high-quality leads and driving inbound calls to lenders. Best Rate Referrals has a long history of connecting high-intent consumers with a diverse network of lenders for a variety of financing products. The company's flagship website, MortgageAdvisor.com, is a one-stop mortgage financing shop that matches consumers with mortgage lenders and also provides an array of online tools and information to educate potential borrowers on achieving their financing goals. In 2018, Best Rate Referrals expanded into the world of personal finance with the launch of Loan Advisor, a new online marketplace designed to provide consumers with simple and fast personal loan quotes from lenders for free. Best Rate Referrals is part of Digital Media Solutions, LLC (DMS), an industry leader the world of customer acquisition and retention that helps clients maximize their digital marketing to beat the competition and accelerate growth. For more information on Best Rate Referrals, go to bestratereferrals.com, check out the Facebook page at facebook.com/BestRateReferralsLV  and follow on Twitter at @BestRateLeads.

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