Millennials in search of affordable housing are moving inland to find it, with Minneapolis drawing the nation's highest home buying activity for this age group in the fall, according to Ellie Mae's latest Millennial Tracker. Other cities in the top five for millennial home buyers are Philadelphia, St. Louis, Chicago, and Detroit. "As housing prices continue to rebound, millennials are increasingly representing a higher percentage of homeowners in the middle of the country," says Joe Tyrrell, executive vice president of Corporate Strategy at Ellie Mae. Meanwhile, cities in California and Florida saw the least millennial home buying activity this fall, including Los Angeles, Miami, San Diego, San Francisco, and Tampa-St. Petersburg. Here's a profile of the millennial home buyer based on the latest readings from the index: About half of millennial borrowers are nearly 29 years old. About half were single and half were married (which reflects a growth in single homeownership). Their FICO credit scores averaged 722. They are able to afford a pricier home than they were six months ago. The average appraised value of a home bought by millennial buyers has jumped from $212,939 in June to $223,153. More than three quarters of closed loans for millennials were purchases, and 22 percent were refinances. The average loan amount was $184,733. Average days to close for millennials held steady at 47, with 46 days for conventional loans and 47 for FHA loans.

Source: Ellie Mae