TROY, Mich., Sept. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Flagstar Bank and the Southeastern Michigan Economic Data Center (SEMEDC), a unit of Oakland University's business school, have teamed up to expand SEMEDC's analysis of key economic trends and bring its insights to a broader audience.

As the presenting sponsor of the SEMEDC, Flagstar will share the center's data through its own customer relationships, social, and other media. Flagstar's sponsorship includes support for research by the university's undergraduate business students.

"Flagstar serves a large and growing base of commercial customers," said Drew Ottaway, Michigan Market president and managing director of lending for Flagstar. "We're excited to bring these customers easy access to powerful economic data that they--and the entire business community--can use to drive growth in our local economy."

The economic data center was started by OU Economics Professor Jonathan Silberman, Ph.D., who has developed indices to measure key trends specific to Southeastern Michigan. The SEMEDC looks at trends in the labor market, building permits, vacancies, consumer prices, population, and other categories. Silberman and his students just rolled out a new index focusing on the economic vitality of the region.

"The economic vitality index taps into the heartbeat of the economy by combining job growth, unemployment rate, real wage growth, and housing price changes into a single measure of economic vitality that directly impacts households," Silberman said. "The most recent EVI for metro Detroit shows positive momentum led by housing price gains and a reduction in the unemployment rate. The EVI is available for 19 other cities and a 20-city average."

Through the SEMEDC, Silberman also provides insights on the automotive industry, including timely topics such as Detroit's lead ranking in autonomous technology patents.

About Flagstar
Flagstar Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: FBC) is a $16.0 billion savings and loan holding company headquartered in Troy, Mich. Flagstar Bank, FSB, provides commercial, small business, and consumer banking services through 99 branches in the state. It also provides home loans through a wholesale network of brokers and correspondents in all 50 states, as well as 85 retail locations in 26 states, representing the combined retail branches of Flagstar and Opes Advisors mortgage division. Flagstar is a leading national originator and servicer of mortgage loans, handling payments and record keeping for $87 billion of home loans representing 402,000 borrowers. For more information, please visit flagstar.com.

About SEMEDC
The Southeastern Michigan Economic Data Center (SEMEDC) provides state-of-the-art information and analysis on economic, demographic and business trends in Southeastern Michigan. Data compiled from a wealth of sources is available all in one convenient site. As the real-world data changes, the data and displays are updated automatically, so the information provided is always current. The SEMEDC is part of the School of Business Administration at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich.

For more information contact:

Susan Bergesen
Flagstar Bank
(248) 312-6237

Brian Bierley
Oakland University
(248) 370-4346

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SOURCE Flagstar Bancorp, Inc.