Tag: Plano Business
To Drive the Sport of Flag Football Forward, Stack Sports and Gridiron Football ‘Team Up’
PLANO, Texas /New York Netwire - National News/ -- Stack Sports, the leading provider of sports management solutions, is excited to announce its renewed partnership with Gridiron Football, a national leader in youth non-contact football. As part of our partnership, Sports Connect will continue to serve as a preferred registration and website provider of Gridiron Football leagues across the United States.
Optimal Blue’s November 2024 Market Advantage mortgage data report finds overall rate lock volume down 25% month over month
PLANO, Texas /New York Netwire - National News/ -- 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.
Optimal Blue Announces Tony Hawk, Housing Industry Leaders to Headline Inaugural User Conference 2025
PLANO, Texas /New York Netwire - National News/ -- 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.
October Mortgage Lock Data Shows Cracks in the Mortgage Market as Interest Rates Tick up 65 Basis Points
PLANO, Texas /New York Netwire - National News/ -- 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.
Erin Wester and Mike Vough Promoted to New Executive Roles at Optimal Blue
PLANO, Texas /New York Netwire - National News/ -- 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.
Rate-and-Term Refinance Locks Surge 700% Over Previous Year Following the FOMC’s September Interest Rate Reduction
PLANO, Texas, Oct. 8, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- 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.
Optimal Blue Expands Expertise, Market Leadership With Launch of Two In-House Podcasts
PLANO, Texas, Oct. 1, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- 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.
Optimal Blue Rolls Out Innovations in New UI, Gen AI, Originator Capabilities and New No-Cost Solutions
PLANO, Texas, Sept. 16, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- 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.
Rate-and-Term Refinances Surge 109% MoM in August as Mortgage Rates Decline
PLANO, Texas, Sept. 10, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- 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.
Optimal Blue to Host Inaugural Industry Summit February 3-5, 2025
PLANO, Texas, Sept. 9, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- 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.
July Refinance Activity Hits Highest Levels Since September 2022
PLANO, Texas, Aug. 12, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- 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.
Optimal Blue Launches New Generative AI Assistant Capabilities
PLANO, Texas, July 23, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- 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.
Stack Sports Teams Up with The Miracle League to Revolutionize Inclusive Sports
PLANO, Texas, July 15, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Stack Sports, the leading provider of sports management solutions, is excited to announce the signing of its new strategic partnership with The Miracle League, an organization focused on providing opportunities for children with disabilities to play Miracle League baseball.
Falling Home Prices and Purchase Mortgage Locks Reveal a Stagnant Late-Spring Housing Market
PLANO, Texas, July 10, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- 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.
Optimal Blue Launches Competitive Data License to Help Lenders Optimize Margins With Competitive Loan Pricing Data
PLANO, Texas, June 25, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- 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.
Stack Sports and The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Renew Strategic Partnership to Grow Participation
PLANO, Texas, June 19, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Stack Sports, the leading provider of sports management solutions, announced the renewal of its multi-year partnership with Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Sports, an interdenominational Christian sports ministry working to see the world transformed by Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes.
Mortgage Interest Rate Sensitivity Triggers 25% Spike in May Rate-and-Term Refinance Activity
PLANO, Texas, June 13, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- 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%.
Optimal Blue Names Joe Tyrrell Chief Executive Officer
PLANO, Texas, June 10, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- 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.
Optimal Blue Announces ‘Optimize Your Advantage’ to Showcase How Its Capital Markets Platform Puts Lenders in Control of Their Margins
PLANO, Texas, May 16, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- 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.
Mortgage Purchase Lock Counts See First YoY Gain Since Fed Rate Hikes Began Two Years Ago
PLANO, Texas, May 13, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- 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.