Polygon Research First With 2018 HMDA Data
August 19, 2019
Polygon Research has been working with HMDA data for several years, and has been selling subscriptions to HMDAVision, our Software-as-a-Service HMDA analysis app, since 2018. HMDAVision contains the most recent 5 years of HMDA data, so we are able to show not only the latest information, but trends over time as well.
The FFIEC, and more recently the CFPB, have traditionally released the prior year's HMDA data each spring in the form of a national loan level dataset consisting of a large (~2GB) LAR file along with supporting lender and geography information files. This year marks a departure from this pattern in that the LAR information has so far only been released as individual per-lender "Modified LAR" files without the supporting files. Per the CFPB: "The Modified LARs contains loan level information for 2018 on individual HMDA filers, modified to protect privacy." And the bar is even higher right now for organizations wanting to make sense of HMDA trends through 2018, as 2018 ushers in the use of a new unique identifier for lenders, with no crosswalk to the previous one.
The FFIEC, and more recently the CFPB, have traditionally released the prior year's HMDA data each spring in the form of a national loan level dataset consisting of a large (~2GB) LAR file along with supporting lender and geography information files. This year marks a departure from this pattern in that the LAR information has so far only been released as individual per-lender "Modified LAR" files without the supporting files. Per the CFPB: "The Modified LARs contains loan level information for 2018 on individual HMDA filers, modified to protect privacy." And the bar is even higher right now for organizations wanting to make sense of HMDA trends through 2018, as 2018 ushers in the use of a new unique identifier for lenders, with no crosswalk to the previous one.
Enter Polygon Research. We have a world-class technology platform thanks to our partnership with Qlik, and we are experts in the mortgage industry. We are also a bootstrapping, family-owned business focused on providing valuable services at fair prices. We decided to tackle the technology challenge of modeling the 5600+ modified LAR files along with the research challenge of producing our own crosswalk files because we believe the mortgage industry is better - more fair, more robust, and more efficient - when lenders, agencies, and all stakeholders are able to participate in the same dialogue. HMDAVision makes this possible by allowing all subscribers to drill down and cross filter by any combination of the 100+ Loan, Applicant, Housing Inventory, Lender, and Secondary Market dimensions and measures we include in the app.
HMDAVision: 2018 HMDA Transactions by Action Type
HMDAVision: 2018 HMDA Transactions by Action Type. Note that Alternative Dimensions can be selected on the x axis, and Alternative Measures can be selected on the y axis.
Next for us is to continue to update HMDAVision with new data posted by the CFPB - both updates to the modified LARs, and then to the new national loan level dataset once released. This reflects a core additional advantage to our subscriptions: we provide continual updates to our HMDA and Census data as part of our flat subscription price so our customers always have the latest and greatest data.
Contact us with any questions about the 2018 HMDA data or to request a demo.
Contact us with any questions about the 2018 HMDA data or to request a demo.