Oct. 11, 2018--The Mortgage Bankers Association Builder Application Survey data for September 2018 shows mortgage applications for new home purchases increased 8.2 percent compared to September 2017. Compared to August 2018, applications decreased by 9 percent. This change does not include any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns.

“Even though new home sales decreased 3.9 percent over the month, the average monthly number of homes sold so far this year (648,000 units) is around 8 percent higher than a year ago, and last month’s 8.2 percent annualized gain in purchase applications points to continued demand for new homes,” said Joel Kan, MBA associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting. “Housing demand is still strong even as mortgage rates increase, and as a result, we’re still forecasting for modest growth in purchase origination volume in 2018.”

MBA estimates new single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 643,000 units in September 2018, based on data from the BAS. The new home sales estimate is derived using mortgage application information from the BAS, as well as assumptions regarding market coverage and other factors.

The seasonally adjusted estimate for September is a decrease of 3.9 percent from the August pace of 669,000 units. On an unadjusted basis, MBA estimates that there were 50,000 new home sales in September 2018, a decrease of 5.7 percent from 53,000 new home sales in August.

By product type, conventional loans composed 71.0 percent of loan applications, FHA loans composed 16.0 percent, RHS/USDA loans composed 1.1 percent and VA loans composed 11.9 percent. The average loan size for new homes increased from $332,801 in August to $333,086 in September.

MBA’s Builder Application Survey tracks application volume from mortgage subsidiaries of home builders across the country. Utilizing this data, as well as data from other sources, MBA is able to provide an early estimate of new home sales volumes at the national, state, and metro level. This data also provides information regarding the types of loans used by new home buyers. Official new home sales estimates are conducted by the Census Bureau on a monthly basis. In that data, new home sales are recorded at contract signing, which is typically coincident with the mortgage application.

October 11, 2018—A bold, new visual identity for Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN) makes its industry debut at the 2018 Mortgage Bankers Association Annual Convention & Expo, October 14 – 17 in Washington, DC.

According to Radian Chief Executive Officer Rick Thornberry, “Our new brand identity better communicates what Radian stands for today and what we aspire to be in the future. It reflects our strong heritage and emphasizes our forward-thinking mindset.”

Collectively, Radian and its subsidiaries offer a full spectrum of residential mortgage and real estate products and services, including mortgage and title insurance, appraisal products, non-agency securitization reviews, secondary marketing support, and custom insurance products for investors seeking to participate in emerging risk sharing opportunities.

Thornberry added, “The new Radian is dedicated to disrupting existing business models to enable our customers to better transact and manage risk across the mortgage and real estate spectrum. Unlike traditional mortgage insurance companies, we’re able to offer a much broader, more diversified set of products and services to our customers. That puts us in a unique position to deliver on the mortgage industry’s need for innovation as it adapts to new expectations for speed, transparency, and accountability.”

“In today’s market, particularly in financial services and mortgage finance, standing still is not an option,” noted Radian CFO Frank Hall. “Our One Radian model uniquely blends many decades of risk management expertise with the power of data, technology and analytics to disrupt the landscape. It allows us to be insightful, as well as agile, as we bring new and needed solutions to the mortgage and real estate industries.”

Disruption is a key theme underlying the new Radian brand identity, which features a striking dash of teal anchored by a solid navy blue wordmark. The color combination and bold strokes are intended to reflect the strength of Radian’s heritage and its drive toward a future in which innovation transforms business models.

Radian currently operates as a family of companies that includes Radian Guaranty, Radian Reinsurance, Clayton Holdings, Green River Capital, ValuAmerica, Entitle Direct, and Red Bell Real Estate, LLC. Over time, Radian’s new logo will unite all of its businesses under one brand. A dedicated website has been established at www.radian.com to showcase the company’s business strategy and brand identity, and to keep customers informed with updates as Radian transitions its businesses to its new brand.

Thornberry added, “For our team at Radian, our One Radian model means that they are part of something much larger. The combined strength of our unified team, our broad set of products and services, our innovation, and our service culture makes us an even better and stronger business partner for our customers.”

Oct. 10, 2018--OpenClose, an industry-leading multi-channel loan origination system LOS and mortgage fintech provider, announced the release of a Restful API suite designed to offer its customers an easier, more cost effective and secure standardized solution to enable rich and deep direct interactions with their system of record from third party and home grown systems. The extensibility, scalability and security of the API suite ultimately reduces the cost to originate loans and establishes rich connectivity options to drive communications, processes and workflows.

“One of OpenClose’s core goals is to create more efficient methods for our customers to conduct business, respond to changing market conditions and reduce the total cost to originate, close and sell loans,” stated JP Kelly, president of OpenClose. “As our customers’ business models evolve, new needs and requirements emerge that require flexibility and nimbleness to respond to changing marketplace conditions. Our RESTful API suite gives lenders the option to work with more third party service providers. Additionally, OpenClose customers can connect their own homegrown solutions or work with other software providers to custom tailor the perfect solution for their needs.”

OpenClose’s Restful API suite has been developed with a standardized methodology to enable implementation of direct integrations, seamless data exchange and execution of transactions. It creates simplicity, reliability, extensibility and better performance in totality. In addition, less maintenance is required and thus costs are lowered.

The API suite makes it quicker, simpler and more cost effective to integrate with disparate technologies, some of which are third party applications that are antiquated and previously required arduous and labor intensive development efforts.