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Tag Archives | Optimal Blue

Optimal Blue report: October lock volume holds second-highest level in three years : National News

PLANO, Texas, Nov. 11, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today released its October 2025 Market Advantage mortgage data report, showing that rate-lock activity remained strong despite seasonal cooling and continued to outpace last year’s levels. Total lock volume fell 4.2% month over month (MoM) from September’s peak but was still up 18% year over […]

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Optimal Blue continues to debut new innovations across complete capital markets platform ahead of MBA Annual Convention and Expo : National News

PLANO, Texas, Oct. 16, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today announced the launch of a new data solution to deliver increased market transparency, as well as three major platform enhancements focused on pricing accuracy, trade execution and counterparty management. Released ahead of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Annual Convention and Expo, and as the […]

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Optimal Blue report: Rate rally drives 28% surge in September lock volumes : National News

PLANO, Texas, Oct. 14, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today released its September 2025 Market Advantage mortgage data report, which showed a sharp increase in rate-lock activity as mortgage rates fell throughout the month to their lowest levels in nearly a year. Total lock volume rose 28% month over month (MoM), led by a […]

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Refinances surge nearly 70% as purchase activity falls 10% in August : National News

PLANO, Texas, Sept. 10, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today released its August 2025 Market Advantage mortgage data report, which found a sharp split between purchase and refinance trends as seasonal factors and falling rates reshaped origination activity. Total lock volume dipped about 2% month over month (MoM) as a roughly 10% drop in […]

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Optimal Blue to Host Its 2026 Summit February 23-25 in Scottsdale : National News

PLANO, Texas, Aug. 18, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today announced it will host its 2026 Optimal Blue Summit from February 23-25 at the Talking Stick Resort and Conference Center in Scottsdale, Arizona. Building on the success of its inaugural event, the 2026 Summit will bring together the company’s clients and integration partners, along […]

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Refinances tick up and non-QM hits record high as purchase activity falls nearly 5% in July : National News

PLANO, Texas, Aug. 12, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today released its July 2025 Market Advantage mortgage data report, which found a 3% month-over-month (MoM) drop in overall rate lock volume, led by a nearly 5% drop in purchase activity as affordability remained strained. Mortgage rates rose MoM across all loan types.

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Optimal Blue’s New Brand Reflects Its Modern Technology and Proven Expertise and Leadership : National News

PLANO, Texas, Aug. 11, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today launched a new brand that emphasizes the company’s market leadership in delivering modern innovation backed by decades of proven, trusted performance. “Optimal Blue is operating in an era defined by accuracy, scale, speed and artificial intelligence – and our new brand embodies that,” said […]

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Optimal Blue Fully Automates Best Efforts Locking Directly with Investors : National News

PLANO, Texas, July 30, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today announced a new capability in its industry-leading product, pricing and eligibility (PPE) engine that fully automates the process for a lock desk user to execute best efforts locks directly with participating investors via API. By eliminating the last remaining manual step in the locking […]

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Refis, Product Shifts and Strong Agency Participation Define June Market Advantage Report : National News

PLANO, Texas, July 8, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today released its June 2025 Market Advantage mortgage data report showing total lock volume rose 1.95% month-over-month (MoM), driven by increased refinance activity. Refinance share climbed from 16% to 18% of all locks as rate-and-term refinances jumped 17.4% MoM and 18.4% year-over-year (YoY). Cash-out refinances […]

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Optimal Blue Releases May Data Findings, Announces Expansion of Monthly Report for More Comprehensive Lender Profitability Insights : National News

PLANO, Texas, June 10, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today released the May 2025 edition of its now-expanded Market Advantage mortgage data report, which features newly added borrower profile and capital market datasets for a more comprehensive picture of early-stage mortgage activity and loan profitability. The enhancements come at a critical time for mortgage […]

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Optimal Blue Launches New Lead Generation Tool for Originators : National News

PLANO, Texas, June 9, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today announced a new product that helps originators efficiently track and identify refinance opportunities so they can reengage borrowers with eligible refinance options at the right time. Available to Optimal Blue PPE users, Capture for Originators dramatically reduces the manual effort loan officers currently spend […]

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Optimal Blue Releases Executive-Level AI Insights Tool, Ask Obi, to Clients : National News

PLANO, Texas, May 19, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today announced that Ask Obi, an AI-powered assistant designed to help mortgage lending executives extract real-time insights from across Optimal Blue’s capital markets platform, is now generally available to all PPE clients. Introduced at the company’s inaugural user conference in February and refined through beta […]

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Optimal Blue Brings AI-Powered Originator Assistant to Market, Helping Originators Present Best Possible Loan Options to Borrowers : National News

PLANO, Texas, May 1, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today announced the general availability of Originator Assistant, a powerful addition to the Optimal Blue PPE. Leveraging generative AI, Originator Assistant eliminates human bias in the loan structuring process and helps originators identify all options for a borrower, providing more ways to help consumers realize […]

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Cooler Interest Rates Heat Up Refinances and Spark Early Signs of Purchase Demand : National News

PLANO, Texas, April 8, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today released its March 2025 Market Advantage mortgage data report, showing a 24% surge in rate lock volume as early spring buyers returned to the market and homeowners jumped at the chance to refinance into lower rates. While still down 2% on a year-over-year (YoY) […]

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Optimal Blue’s Shawn Chandwani Named to HousingWire’s 2025 Rising Star List : National News

PLANO, Texas, April 1, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today announced that Senior Software Engineering Manager Shawn Chandwani, 34, has been named among HousingWire’s Rising Stars. The annual list celebrates young professionals who shoulder significant leadership responsibilities and contribute to the broader industry and business landscape, establishing themselves as influential figures and leaders for […]

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Optimal Blue Establishes Alliance with Cotality to Expand the Reach of Its Mortgage Origination and Pricing Data : National News

PLANO, Texas, March 27, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today announced a strategic alliance with Cotality™ (formerly CoreLogic®) that expands access to its mortgage origination and pricing data. Through this collaboration, Cotality will offer Optimal Blue’s data to a broader audience, including hedge funds, capital markets participants, and investment firms seeking insights into the […]

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40% Jump in Rate-and-Term Refis Drives Overall Lock Growth as Purchase Activity Stalls : National News

PLANO, Texas, March 11, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today released its February 2025 Market Advantage mortgage data report, showing a 7% month-over-month increase in mortgage lock volume driven primarily by a surge in refinance activity. Rate-and-term refinances saw the biggest jump, rising nearly 40% as homeowners seized the opportunity to lower their monthly […]

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January Mortgage Lock Data Shows Year-Over-Year Improvement in Refinance Volume Despite Higher Rates : National News

PLANO, Texas, Feb. 13, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today released its January 2025 Market Advantage mortgage data report, revealing a sharp rise in year-over-year (YoY) refinance activity alongside a drop in purchase lock counts. The decline in purchase lock counts marks the lowest January count since Optimal Blue began tracking this data in […]

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Optimal Blue Introduces Seven Major Innovations at Its Inaugural User Summit in San Diego : National News

SAN DIEGO, Calif., Feb. 4, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today unveiled a series of new products and features, alongside its major Ask Obi AI assistant announcement, at its Summit user conference in San Diego. These innovation announcements underscore the company’s commitment to delivering high-impact solutions, at no additional cost, that tackle real-world challenges […]

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Optimal Blue Releases Ask Obi, its New AI Assistant, Providing Mortgage Lending Execs with Realtime Business Insights

SAN DIEGO, Calif. /California Newswire / — Optimal Blue today announced Ask Obi, an AI assistant designed to provide mortgage lending executives with instant, actionable insights from their Optimal Blue products and data. Unveiled during Optimal Blue’s inaugural Summit user conference in San Diego, Ask Obi gives lenders the power to view their operations holistically […]

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Optimal Blue Announces Ask Obi, an AI Assistant to Provide Mortgage Lending Executives With Real-Time Business Insights : National News

SAN DIEGO, Calif., Feb. 4, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today announced Ask Obi, an AI assistant designed to provide mortgage lending executives with instant, actionable insights from their Optimal Blue products and data. Unveiled during Optimal Blue’s inaugural Summit user conference in San Diego, Ask Obi gives lenders the power to view their […]

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December Mortgage Lock Data Reveals Year-Over-Year Increases Across All Loan Types Despite Seasonal Downturn : National News

PLANO, Texas, Jan. 14, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today released its December 2024 Market Advantage mortgage data report, showcasing year-over-year (YoY) growth in mortgage activity, even as seasonal trends led to a month-over-month (MoM) decline in rate lock volumes. Overall, December mortgage lock volume was up 26% YoY, driven by an 18% increase […]

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Mortgage Lock Activity Fell in November as Interest Rates Hit Their Highest Levels Since July : National News

PLANO, Texas, Dec. 10, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — 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. Purchase lock volume was down 21% MoM, while cash-out and rate-and-term refinance […]

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Optimal Blue Announces Tony Hawk, Housing Industry Leaders to Headline Inaugural User Conference : National News

PLANO, Texas, Dec. 5, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — 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 […]

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October Mortgage Lock Data Shows Resilience and Cracks in the Mortgage Market as Interest Rates Tick up 65 Basis Points : National News

PLANO, Texas, Nov. 12, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — 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 […]

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Optimal Blue Promotes Industry Experts to New Executive Roles to Accelerate Innovation and Prioritize Partnerships : National News

PLANO, Texas, Nov. 11, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — 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 […]

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Optimal Blue Announces Three Major Product Releases, Continuing Streak of Aggressive Product Innovation and No-Cost Feature Additions : National News

PLANO, Texas, Oct. 28, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today announced three major product releases: the expansion of its AI assistant suite, the introduction of Scenario Optimizer, and the free availability of Investor Pricing Insight to investor clients. These product updates build on the company’s commitment to rapidly delivering high-impact solutions that tackle real-world […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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, […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Optimal Blue Director of Data Solutions Brennan O’Connell Named a 2024 HousingWire Rising Star

PLANO, Texas, April 24, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today announced that Brennan O’Connell, director of data solutions, has been honored with the 2024 HousingWire Rising Stars award. The award program celebrates emerging leaders in real estate and mortgage who have demonstrated rapid career growth and an ability to lead, achieving remarkable milestones before […]

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Optimal Blue Announces Promotion of Rick Allen to Chief Operating Officer

PLANO, Texas, April 9, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today announced that it has elevated Rick Allen to chief operating officer (COO). Most recently serving as Optimal Blue’s chief administrative officer, Allen brings more than 35 years of experience in the housing industry to his senior leadership role. Throughout his tenure at Optimal Blue, […]

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Mortgage Industry Veteran Sara Holtz Joins Optimal Blue as Chief Marketing Officer

PLANO, Texas, March 15, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue announced today that it has appointed Sara Holtz as chief marketing officer. As a seasoned marketing and communications leader, Holtz brings more than 20 years of career experience, including a decade of driving change in the mortgage industry. As chief marketing officer, Holtz will drive […]

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Spring Buying Season Kicks Off With an Uptick in Purchase Applications Despite Climbing Interest Rates

PLANO, Texas, March 11, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Today, Optimal Blue released its February 2024 Originations Market Monitor report, which reveals that the spring homebuying season has kicked off with a jump in monthly purchase mortgage locks. The seasonal spike in purchase locks propelled a net increase in origination activity, even as higher interest rates […]

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Optimal Blue’s Mike Schommer Honored as a 2024 HousingWire Finance Leader

PLANO, Texas, March 1, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Today, Optimal Blue announced its vice president of finance, Mike Schommer, has been honored as a 2024 HousingWire Finance Leader. The award program celebrates senior finance executives who have exhibited exceptional leadership in corporate finance, capital markets, and accounting within the mortgage and real estate sectors.

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Optimal Blue Originations Market Monitor: Lock Volume Rises 36% Month Over Month in January, Falling Rates and Slowing Decline in Purchase Counts May Signal Lending Relief in 2024

PLANO, Texas, Feb. 12, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Today, Optimal Blue announced the release of its Originations Market Monitor report, looking at mortgage origination data through January month-end. Leveraging daily rate lock data from the Optimal Blue PPE – the industry’s most widely used product, pricing, and eligibility engine – the Originations Market Monitor provides […]

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Optimal Blue PPE Now Available in Native Mobile App for Android and iOS, Gives Loan Officers ‘Pricing in Their Pocket’ With Full Product and Search Capabilities

PLANO, Texas, Jan. 16, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Today, Optimal Blue announced releases related to its publicly listed, native mobile app for the Optimal Blue PPE – the industry’s most widely used product, pricing, and eligibility engine. The releases consist of a new mobile app for Android, as well as enhancements to the company’s mobile […]

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Optimal Blue Originations Market Monitor: December Brought Significant Growth in Rate/Term Refinance Volume as Falling Rates Created Favorable Tailwinds

PLANO, Texas, Jan. 15, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Today, Optimal Blue announced the release of its Originations Market Monitor report, looking at mortgage origination data through December month-end. Leveraging daily rate lock data from the Optimal Blue PPE – the industry’s most widely used product, pricing, and eligibility engine – the Originations Market Monitor provides […]

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