May 2026 - Page 3 of 4 - Chrisman Commentary

May 12: LO jobs; best ex, equity, servicing, AI, valuation tools; job market’s mixed signals; purchase market dragging?

It is hard to believe that “Top Gun” premiered 40 years ago today. Put another way, people who were 40 then are now, uh… 80! And probably grand or great grandparents. Speaking of which, are “Granny pods” going to be the latest purchase housing trend? If you’re hoping that the summer is going to bring a trend of purchase market prosperity, I hope you’re right but there are indications otherwise. Rocket Companies’ CEO reported its highest profit in four years, but CEO Varun Krishna told…

A Rebalancing American Housing Market

Posted on May 12June 4 by Thom Malone

The national home price index has become one of those gauges everybody watches even while knowing full well that real estate is local. One metro can be surging while another is rolling over, and sometimes that divergence exists within the same state. But the broader national trend right now is unmistakable. The market is weakening and continuing to weaken. Year-over-year appreciation has steadily decelerated, with really only one bright patch left in the country, the Midwest. Cleveland,…

Execution Matters More Than Ever

Posted on May 12June 4 by Kristin Ankeny Bickenbach

For much of the past two years, the mortgage industry has operated with one eye on the present and the other fixed firmly on the hope of a return to the market conditions that defined the post pandemic boom. The assumption underneath many strategic decisions was that lower rates would eventually arrive, refinance activity would reappear, margins would recover, and the industry could resume operating under a familiar playbook. Increasingly, however, that assumption is giving way to the…

VieauxPoint: May 11, 2026

Posted on May 12June 4 by Brian Vieaux

The recent FHFA and HUD announcement, advancing the use of VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T is more than just a credit policy update. It is another signal that the mortgage industry is entering a new era of modernization, one where standardized data and interoperability matter more than ever. For many across the industry, the headlines focused on the scoring models themselves. But behind the scenes, there is an important story that deserves attention: the foundational work already completed by…

May 11: MI, LO jobs; AI consulting, UAD 3.6, CRA mining, non-Agency search tools; rate cross currents but Fed probably sitting ’til ’27

Posted on May 11June 4 by Rob Chrisman

“My friend asked me to help him round up his 37 sheep. I said, ‘40.’” There will be a lot of numbers (and topics) flying around the upcoming MBA’s Secondary & Capital Markets Conference, in New York with over a thousand registered including a portion of the Chrisman LLC team heading there later this week. There are many other topics, some of which, like AI in capital markets and the recapture impact on rate sheets, will be on this Wednesday’s Capital Markets Wrap, sponsored by Polly. The cost…

May 9: What LOs should know about DPA; hedging in this market; Louisiana’s coast; Saturday Spotlight: Fairway Home Mortgage

Posted on May 9June 4 by Rob Chrisman

Land… they’re not making any more of it. In fact, in one state’s case, it’s going away due to climate change, which, if you think it (natural or manmade) is a hoax, put your money where your mouth is and buy beach front land in Louisiana. Or buy a lot a mile inland and wait. A new study published in Nature Sustainability argues that, at this point, southern Louisiana will face three to seven meters of sea level rise as a result of warming global temperatures, which will result in the loss of…

May 8: LO jobs coast to coast; BBYS, anti-fraud, subservicing products; Primer hedging information for MLOs

Posted on May 8June 4 by Rob Chrisman

“Where do you bring someone who has been injured playing Peek-a-Boo? The ICU.” Fortunately, all the recent mortgage conferences have kept injuries to a minimum as the “talk in the hallways” continues. Hey, before I forget, if you haven’t signed up for the Mortgage Action Alliance, do so. It’s free, has good advocacy information, and there’s strength in numbers. Recent conference chatter includes suggesting that removing politics from the mortgage conversation would be a good thing to attempt,…

Managing Through Volatility

Posted on May 7June 4 by Rob Chrisman

What’s striking about the current environment is just how many different forces are hitting the mortgage market at the same time, and how little room there is for clean, simple answers. You’ve got geopolitical tension driving energy prices, a pending Fed leadership transition that people keep trying to assign too much importance to, and ongoing shifts from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that directly impact execution. And through all of that, capital markets teams still have to do the same job:…

May 7: LO jobs; hedging & secondary, verification, AI, reverse, ops tools; earnings tell a tale; market muddle

Posted on May 7June 4 by Rob Chrisman

My cat Myrtle never made it to the Great River or Mortgage Innovator’s mortgage conferences, but plenty of people did. Between these May events, the TMBA Annual, the Gathering, Sagent Ignite, and the National Secondary coming up, there’s a lot of meetin’, talkin’, and educatin’. Talk in the halls, somewhat somber but hopeful, revolves around AI, Figure challenging Freddie and Fannie in the first-lien mortgage market by using its blockchain platform, UWM and TWO press releases going back and…

May 7: LO jobs; hedging & secondary, verification, AI, reverse, ops tools; earnings tell a tale; market muddle Click to teach UTmail Mail this conversation is important

Posted on May 7 by Rob Chrisman

My cat Myrtle never made it to the Great River or Mortgage Innovator’s mortgage conferences, but plenty of people did. Between these May events, the […]