Better predictive analytics: How to avoid another housing crisis

Predictive analytics can paint a fairly accurate picture of the future – but too many mortgage pros rely on pundits instead of data

Better predictive analytics: How to avoid another housing crisis
It has been nearly a decade since the fallout from the housing crisis, and there has been a lot of finger-pointing throughout the decade regarding who was to blame. Experts have been interviewed. Books have been written. Even movies have been made. And everyone, it seems, has an answer as to why we should have seen it coming.

The funny thing is that none of these pundits were talking before the recession hit. Many of them, just like everyone else, were riding the wave of success. And it's only when the wave crests and we're sorting through the destruction that we start to piece together what might been done differently. And that's when the finger-pointing begins. Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20.

But what if we could see where the wave was going to break? What if we could see where the fingers would be pointing before there is even anyone to blame? What if foresight was 20/20? Well, it turns out there is a way to predict the future.

Of course, I'm talking about harnessing the power of data. We need to become more focused on predictive analytics. The problem is that leaders in the industry often follow pundits instead of data. There is so much information available to us today that fairly accurate models of the future can actually be developed. Of course, there is no crystal ball. Predicting the future with data analysis isn't perfect, but it's the best we've ever had. It's still guessing, but it's highly educated guessing. Do yourself, your company, and the industry a huge favor, and start basing more of your decisions about the future on data. That's the only way we can avoid another mess.