News Topic: Texas Business
News: Click n’ Close welcomes Jeff Raich to its National Sales bench
Mortgage and Finance News: (ADDISON, Texas) Click n' Close (CNC), a multi-state mortgage lender serving consumers and mortgage originators through its wholesale and correspondent channels, today announced Jeff Raich has joined the organization as a national sales director in correspondent lending.
News: Empowering Businesses and Notaries to Expand Their Reach with Cutting-Edge RON Technology
Mortgage and Finance News: (DALLAS, Texas) ProNotary, a pioneering force in the remote online notarization (RON) industry, today announced its expansion into Montana, Iowa, and Missouri. This milestone marks a significant step in ProNotary's mission to provide seamless and secure notarization solutions across the United States, enabling notaries and businesses in these states to connect with clients anywhere in the world.
News: Mortgage Lock Activity Fell in November as Interest Rates Hit Their Highest Levels Since July
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today released its November 2024 Market Advantage mortgage data report, highlighting a 25% decrease in month-over-month (MoM) lock volume as interest rates hit their highest levels since early July, creating headwinds for affordability.
News: Optimal Blue Announces Tony Hawk, Housing Industry Leaders to Headline Inaugural User Conference
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today announced the speaker lineup for its inaugural user conference, the Optimal Blue Summit 2025. Legendary skateboarder and entrepreneur Tony Hawk will headline the event. The conference will also feature sessions led by Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Research and Business Development Michael Fratantoni, Ph.D., MBA Associate Vice President of Secondary and Capital Markets Sasha Hewlett, AMP, HousingWire Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler, and representatives from Microsoft.
News: Mortgage Machine awarded SOC 2 Compliance Status – AICPA-guided examination shows LOS operates as promised
Mortgage and Finance News: (ADDISON, Texas) Mortgage Machine™ (MMS), the loan origination system of record for digital mortgage pioneer Click n' Close (formerly known as Mid America Mortgage), has achieved SOC 2® compliance.
News: October Mortgage Lock Data Shows Resilience and Cracks in the Mortgage Market as Interest Rates Tick up 65 Basis Points
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today released its October 2024 Market Advantage mortgage data report, highlighting resilient purchase activity in the face of rising interest rates and affordability challenges. Despite a 65-basis-point (bps) increase in the Optimal Blue Mortgage Market Indices (OBMMI) 30-year conforming rate, purchase lock volume grew by 12% month over month (MoM), signaling strong demand among homebuyers.
News: Optimal Blue Promotes Industry Experts to New Executive Roles to Accelerate Innovation and Prioritize Partnerships
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today announced two key executive promotions that will position the company to deliver innovation faster across the company's entire capital markets platform, and to further expand the company's network of partners. Erin Wester has been promoted to chief product officer and Mike Vough has been promoted to head of corporate strategy.
News: Click n’ Close Introduces New Down Payment Assistance Options for Shared Appreciation Mortgage Program
Mortgage and Finance News: (ADDISON, Texas) Click n' Close, a multi-state mortgage lender, today announced two significant enhancements to its Shared Appreciation Mortgage (SAM) program. These updates will help make homeownership more accessible and financially advantageous for a broader range of buyers in today's competitive housing market.
News: Rate-and-Term Refinance Locks Surge 700% Over Previous Year Following the FOMC’s September Interest Rate Reduction
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today released its September 2024 Market Advantage mortgage data report, which found a 50% month-over-month (MoM) increase in rate-and-term refinance activity as people who purchased homes in recent years jumped at the opportunity to lower their interest rates and mortgage payments. While the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) lowered its target federal funds rate by 50 bps on Sept. 18, the market had already priced in a portion of the rate reduction, leading to a full month of increased refinance activity in September.
News: Optimal Blue Expands Expertise, Market Leadership With Launch of Two In-House Podcasts
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue announced the release of two in-house podcasts that extend the reach of the company's capital markets experience and expertise built over its decades as the technology leader in its space. The Optimal Insights podcast and video, which will be released weekly, will provide timely analyses of market factors impacting loan originators and capital markets professionals.
News: Eagle Ventures Partners with Keel Point to Combat Human Trafficking Through Technology Investments
Mortgage and Finance News: (DALLAS, Texas) Eagle Ventures, through its Eagle Freedom Fund, a leading impact investment vehicle focused on combating human trafficking, is pleased to announce its strategic partnership with Keel Point, a national private wealth management, family office services, and institutional asset management firm. Keel Point will serve as a Sub-Advisor to the Eagle Freedom Fund, bringing its financial expertise to amplify the Fund's efforts to invest in innovative technologies designed to combat human trafficking globally.
News: Optimal Blue Rolls Out Innovations in New UI, Gen AI, Originator Capabilities and New No-Cost Solutions
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today announced its extensive plans for innovation across its complete capital markets technology ecosystem leading up to its Optimal Blue Summit, where innovations will be unveiled live. New capabilities will be introduced into the core platform beginning in mid-September and continuing through the Optimal Blue Summit, a national user conference being held in San Diego in February.
News: NotaryCam hires Sam McPherson as new Head of Customer Success
Mortgage and Finance News: (HOUSTON, Texas) NotaryCam®, a Stewart-owned company and a pioneering provider of remote online notarization technology for real estate and legal transactions, today announced the appointment of Sam McPherson as the new Head of Customer Success. In this role, McPherson will oversee customer relationships, focusing on delivering an exceptional client experience while driving retention and advocacy.
News: Rate-and-Term Refinances Surge 109% MoM in August as Mortgage Rates Decline
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today released its August 2024 Market Advantage mortgage data report, which reveals an overall 1% rise in rate lock volume despite the typical seasonal slowdown in purchase lending. Lock volume growth was driven by a surge in refinance activity as homeowners reacted to declining mortgage rates.
News: Optimal Blue to Host Inaugural Industry Summit February 3-5, 2025
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today announced it will host its inaugural Optimal Blue Summit from February 3-5, 2025, at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina. Set against the scenic backdrop of San Diego Bay, the Optimal Blue Summit 2025 will bring together clients from across primary and secondary mortgage networks to connect, learn, and share best practices for pricing and profitability.
News: TMC Emerging Technology Fund Announces Newest Corporate Partner: Andromeda Division Constellation Software’s Perseus Operating Group
Mortgage and Finance News: (AUSTIN, Texas) The Mortgage Collaborative (TMC), the nation's largest independent cooperative network serving the mortgage industry, announced today that the TMC Emerging Technology Fund LP has secured its first corporate partner, Andromeda. Andromeda is a Division of the Perseus Operating Group, of Constellation Software, Inc. (TSX: CSU; "Constellation").
News: Mortgage Machine Services Enhances AI-Powered Document Management System to Accelerate Loan Processing Speed
Mortgage and Finance News: (ADDISON, Texas) Mortgage Machine Services, an industry leader in digital origination technology to residential mortgage lenders, announced the launch of Auto Split, an enhancement to the Click n' File document management system embedded into the Mortgage Machine™ loan origination system (LOS).
News: Accountable CRM Launches First Activity-Based Platform for Mortgage Teams
Mortgage and Finance News: (AUSTIN, Texas) 90-Day Sales Manager proudly launches the first activity-based CRM with built-in coaching and accountability for mortgage teams at credit unions and community banks. The 3-in-1 platform provides mortgage departments an affordable solution to help loan officers stay productive during challenging times.
News: July Refinance Activity Hits Highest Levels Since September 2022
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today released its July 2024 Market Advantage mortgage data report, which revealed that mortgage refinance demand surged to levels not seen since September 2022 amid softening interest rates. The lower interest rates seen in July also coaxed increased purchase activity, which, combined with greater refi activity, drove a 3.5% month-over-month (MoM) increase in mortgage rate lock volumes.
News: Optimal Blue Launches New Generative AI Assistant Capabilities
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today announced the delivery of generative AI capabilities centered on helping lenders maximize profitability on every loan transaction. Through direct engagement with its thousands of clients, the company has begun delivering generative AI capabilities built for secondary-market-specific use cases and purposefully designed to solve the real-world challenges that mortgage lenders face.
News: Click n’ Close Chief Operations Officer Kara Lamphere Selected in Mortgage Women Magazine’s Annual Mortgage Star Award Program
Mortgage and Finance News: (ADDISON, Texas) Click n' Close, a multi-state mortgage lender serving consumers and mortgage originators through its wholesale and correspondent channels, today announced Kara Lamphere has been named a Mortgage Star in Mortgage Women Magazine's annual awards program.
News: Falling Home Prices and Purchase Mortgage Locks Reveal a Stagnant Late-Spring Housing Market
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today released its June 2024 Market Advantage mortgage data report, which revealed a stagnant late-spring housing market as home prices dropped for the first time in 2024 and purchase lock counts fell 8% over the previous year. All mortgage lock figures in this news release have been controlled for fewer market days in June.
News: ProNotary Announces Exciting New Partner Program
Mortgage and Finance News: (DALLAS, Texas) ProNotary™, an intuitive and user-friendly digital signing solution, has announced a new partner program. Designed to enable businesses to notarize documents online, ProNotary is excited to collaborate with new partners and generate new income streams for everyone involved.
News: Optimal Blue Launches Competitive Data License to Help Lenders Optimize Margins With Competitive Loan Pricing Data
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue announced the release of Competitive Data License, a collection of key national mortgage pricing data that enables lenders to price products competitively, operate more profitably, and react swiftly to changing market conditions. Competitive Data License draws upon direct-source loan data from the Optimal Blue PPE, which is used to price and lock over 35% of loans in the United States.
News: Mortgage Interest Rate Sensitivity Triggers 25% Spike in May Rate-and-Term Refinance Activity
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today released its May 2024 Market Advantage mortgage data report, which revealed a 25.6% month-over-month (MoM) spike in rate-and-term mortgage refinances. The spike was a response to a modest drop in the Optimal Blue Mortgage Market Indices (OBMMI) 30-year conforming rate, which ended the month at 7.02%.
News: Optimal Blue Names Joe Tyrrell Chief Executive Officer
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today announced the appointment of Joe Tyrrell as CEO. Tyrrell succeeds interim CEO Scott Smith of Optimal Blue's parent company, Constellation Software Inc. Tyrrell brings over 25 years of experience in the mortgage, finance, and technology industries to Optimal Blue.
News: ProNotary Enhances Business Efficiency with Advanced Remote Online Notarization Solutions
Mortgage and Finance News: (DALLAS, Texas) ProNotary, a pioneering force in the remote online notarization industry, is proud to announce its continued commitment to transforming the landscape of notary services through cutting-edge remote online notarization (RON) solutions. Founded in 2018, ProNotary has been at the forefront of innovation, providing businesses with a comprehensive suite of notarization software designed to meet the evolving needs of the digital age.
News: Click n’ Close to Receive Top Lender Award at USDA’s Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program Ceremony
Mortgage and Finance News: (ADDISON, Texas) Click n' Close, a multi-state mortgage lender, today announced that it will be honored with a top lender award at the United States Department of Agriculture's Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program ceremony. This recognition underscores Click n' Close's commitment to fostering homeownership and supporting community development through innovative loan programs.
News: Optimal Blue Announces ‘Optimize Your Advantage’ to Showcase How Its Capital Markets Platform Puts Lenders in Control of Their Margins
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue announced the launch of its Optimize Your Advantage campaign in advance of the MBA Secondary and Capital Markets Conference. This comprehensive brand initiative highlights the value and innovation the company delivers to clients. Through Optimal Blue's position as the housing industry's only end-to-end capital markets platform, lenders and other market participants have greater control of their profit margins, giving them distinct advantages, regardless of market conditions.
News: Mortgage Purchase Lock Counts See First YoY Gain Since Fed Rate Hikes Began Two Years Ago
Mortgage and Finance News: (PLANO, Texas) Optimal Blue today released its April 2024 Originations Market Monitor report, which reveals the first year-over-year increase in purchase mortgage lock counts since the Federal Reserve initiated rate hikes in March 2022.