SERC Analytic Tool Highlights

Natural Hazard Mortgage Analyzer Tool: A Product of a Smith Master of Quantitative Finance Experiential Learning Project

Screenshot of the Natural Hazard Mortgage Analyzer Tool

Working with Smith Enterprise Risk Consortium Director and Professor of the Practice Clifford Rossi, Smith master’s students tackle real-world problems and create analytic tools with practical applications. The Natural Hazard Mortgage Analyzer Tool is a strong example of SERC bridging academia and industry, giving students hands-on experience and bringing data sets to life for real-world decision-making.

Explore the mortgage analyzer

Natural Hazard Mortgage Analyzer Highlights

  • Public data sets from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and FEMA’s National Risk Index
    • 13 million single-family mortgage loans
    • 78,000 U.S. Census tracts, over 3,000 counties
    • 18 different natural hazards, including earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes, coastal and river flooding, tornadoes and drought.
  • County-by-County analytics
    • Risk level
    • Percentage of low- and moderate-income borrowers
    • Percentage of minorities
  • Click on any county in the U.S. to see what the 2024 mortgage originations represent (see screenshot below).

Screenshot of County-by-County Analytics

Screenshot of how the tool works.
Screenshot of how the tool works.

“Lenders, insurance companies, and policymakers all could use this information during the underwriting process and for figuring out which areas need more government resources and/or intervention,” Rossi says.

While this tool was produced through an ELP project, there are numerous similar projects that can be undertaken with SERC interns working under the mentorship of Rossi, SERC's director, providing real value to industry practitioners today and future employers of Smith students tomorrow.

Additional SERC-sponsored projects produced with master’s students and SERC interns:

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