Redfin is calling next year the beginning of “The Great Reset,” when wages will grow faster than home prices for the first time since 2008. Eventually, that could mean affordable houses. But not this year. Mortgage banking isn’t a career most people plan; but for those it finds, it can become a calling. In this personal and candid essay, Bill Dawley traces his unlikely journey from professional baseball to a 30-plus-year career in mortgage banking, sharing hard-earned lessons on discipline, leadership, and what it really takes to build a lasting career in a cyclical industry. From kitchen-table loan applications to coaching the next generation of professionals, Dawley explains why success isn’t about brilliance or luck, but about showing up consistently and doing the work. (Today’s podcast can be found here. This week’s are sponsored by Polly. Polly operates the industry's only vertically integrated capital markets platform, purpose-built to maximize profitability through precision cost reduction, margin expansion, and real-time, loan-level attribution and profitability analysis. Interview with STRATMOR Group’s Garth Graham on M&A activity in 2025, the plays that larger companies are making through acquisitions, and how deal flows change throughout market cycles.)
Products, Programs, and Software for Lenders
Kick-start your pipeline this New Year with up to 75 BPS in price improvement from LoanStream (DBA of OCMBC, Inc.). Take advantage of up to 75 BPS on select non-QM products, including DSCR 5–8 units and Jumbo, or 25 BPS without Select. 25 BPS on FHA loans, including MaxONE DPA and Streamlines (Select excluded). These limited-time specials apply to loans locked January 1–31, 2026. Plus, expand your reach and unlock new opportunities by serving international borrowers with LoanStream’s Foreign National DSCR. Join their LIVE webinar on Tuesday, January 13th for an in-depth look at how this powerful program works. Learn how to support foreign real estate investors, attract new clients, and grow your pipeline, all at the same time. Don’t miss out!
“Fresh, aggressive jumbo pricing just went LIVE on the MAXEX platform. A new insurance capital investor is now giving many sellers exclusive pricing access via MAXEX. This is your chance to compete head-to-head with the largest lenders. MAXEX levels the playing field by delivering priority pricing typically reserved for the biggest players. With MAXEX, sellers unlock best-execution flow trading from six institutional investors, all aligned under the same soft guidelines. That means smoother underwriting, faster decisions, and the ability to leverage your existing AUS process with ease. Plus, you can choose delegated or non-delegated, whatever suits your 2026 business plan. Join us January 14 at 1:30 PM ET for a deep dive into this new investor, the pricing advantage, and how to use it to dominate the Spring buying season.”
“After years of elevated mortgage rates, tight inventory, and stretched affordability, the housing market may finally be ready to thaw. As 2026 approaches, the big question isn’t whether conditions will improve. It’s how quickly momentum will build and what will keep the market moving forward. Join First American Data & Analytics for a 2026 Housing Market Outlook webinar featuring Odeta Kushi, Deputy Chief Economist at First American. We’ll unpack the data behind the shift, from mortgage rates and Fed policy to affordability, labor market fundamentals, demographic demand, new-home construction, and regional performance, and explore the signals pointing to a measured, gradual recovery. If the market is moving from ‘freeze’ to ‘forward motion,’ this is your roadmap for what comes next. Register now for the January 20th webinar to get the insights you need to navigate a year defined by progress, not a breakout, in 2026.”
As refinancing activity accelerates amid a reducing interest rate environment, OutamateMods Retention provides portfolio lenders with the operational infrastructure to proactively retain valuable customers before they refinance elsewhere, helping institutions protect both portfolio value and borrower relationships. Loan retention is more critical than ever and often the most complex part of servicing. OutamateMods™ automates the entire loan modification workflow, from intake through fulfilment, helping lenders and servicers retain borrowers, protect income, and stay fully compliant. Join us for a short webinar to see how OutamateMods™ helps you develop a strategy to retain your portfolio, easily setups your customized workflow for Underwriting, Document generation, and Fulfilment, and gives you a competitive advantage to retain your borrowers. Webinar: January 15, topic: Modernizing Home Retention with OutamateMods™. Register Here: Register. Let's reimagine how loan retention gets done: efficiently, intelligently, and compliantly.
As AI continues to dominate mortgage tech conversations, many lender executives are being asked to make faster decisions with less clarity on what actually matters. A new upcoming webinar, The Executive’s Guide to Evaluating AI in Mortgage Technology, brings together Brooke Anderson Tompkins, Founder and CEO of Bridge AIvisory, and Patrick O’Brien, CEO of LenderLogix, for a practical, hype-free discussion on how leaders should evaluate AI driven solutions beyond marketing claims. The session will cover transparency, accountability, data usage, and how to assess long term risk and value without needing to be an AI expert. The live webinar takes place January 21 at 1:00 PM ET and is designed for mortgage leaders who want clarity, not buzzwords. Register here.
The Chrisman Marketplace is a centralized hub for vendors and service providers across the mortgage industry to be viewed by lenders in a very cost-effective manner. We’re adding new providers daily, so check back often to see what’s new. To reserve your place or learn more, contact us at info@chrismancommentary.com.
Remember When?
Let’s have some “fun” to start 2026. If you think that your company’s market share will stand the test of time, it’s best to ask, “What are we doing now to keep or improve it?” I looked back twenty years, to 2006, to look at “the big names.” For conventional conforming lender, we had, in order, Countrywide, Wells Fargo, Chase, Bank of America, Washington Mutual, CitiMortgage, GMAC, American Home, ABN AMRO, SunTrust, Wachovia, PHH, U.S. Bank, Aurora, and National City.
The top 15 FHA/VA producers in 2006 were Wells Fargo, Countrywide, CitiMortgage, Chase, GMAC, National City, U.S. Bank, Taylor Bean & Whitaker, American Home, SunTrust, Washington Mutual, USAA Federal Savings, First Horizon, Franklin American, and First Magnus.
The top 15 nonprime producers in 2006 were Countrywide, IndyMac, Residential Capital, New Century, HSBC, Washington Mutual, CitiMortgage, EMC, Fremont General, Wells Fargo, WMC, Option One, Ameriquest, First Franklin, and Chase.
The top 15 prime jumbo producers in 2006 were Countrywide, Wells Fargo, Washington Mutual, CitiMortgage, Bank of America, Chase, American Home Mortgage, SunTrust, Residential Capital, PHH, GreenPoint Mortgage, National City, Wachovia, GMAC, and MortgageIT.
Join the MAA
“The Mortgage Action Alliance (MAA), MBA’s free grassroots advocacy network, helped MBA secure several legislative wins in 2025, including trigger leads reforms, Veterans Affairs (VA) loss mitigation options, and major tax legislation. In 2026, the need for continued, robust industry support is crucial as MBA addresses the future of the housing GSEs, the need for fairer credit score pricing, TRIA Reauthorization, and many more issues. Make it a 2026 New Year's resolution to remain an engaged MAA member by renewing your membership or joining today to be a part of the action! Email maa@mba.org to learn more.”
M&A in the Publishing Sector
American Business Media, LLC, the publisher of National Mortgage Professional, today announced that it has acquired the assets HomeQB, LLC, a Georgia-based mortgage certification and software suite that helps loan officers build strategic partnerships with financial planners and grow their business. The acquisition includes the 2026 CMPS certification course for loan officers, the Housing Wealth Advisor CE courses for Certified Financial Planners, the Certified Real Estate Advisor course for real estate agents, and the HomeQB housing wealth report that loan officers can co-brand with real estate agents and financial planners.
As part of the acquisition, HomeQB’s strategic advisor and creator of the CMPS certification course, Gibran Nicholas, has agreed to contribute content on an ongoing basis to American Business Media. “Gibran has a 20-year track record of serving our industry and helping loan officers grow their business,” said Andrew Berman, CEO of National Mortgage Professional (NMP) magazine. “We couldn’t be happier that he chose to partner with us to continue his legacy and contributions to our industry.”
Conventional Conforming News
Seth Appleton, President of U.S. Mortgage Insurers (USMI), released a statement regarding U.S. Federal Housing’s (FHFA) final rule on 2026-2028 Enterprise Housing Goals.
FHFA posted Fannie and Freddie Empowered to Support Middle-Class Homeownership and 2026-2028 Enterprise Housing Goals Final Rule.
Appraisal reports provide a neutral, third-party assessment of a property's fair market value and condition. They can protect you from over lending and help buyers and sellers agree to a fair sale price by identifying potential issues and providing an objective basis for negotiation.
Learn more about the terminology and techniques involved in market conditions analysis to help you effectively review appraisal reports, view Freddie Mac’s Insight Article.
Freddie Mac Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide Bulletin 2025-H announced a number of chapters that have been refactored to enhance the Guide’s overall readability and searchability.
U.S. Federal Housing (FHFA) recently released loan limit values for 2026 as well as updated data for rural areas and high-needs rural regions. See how these updates and other enhancements impact Loan Product Advisor® (LPA®) in the Freddie Mac January Release Notes.
AmeriHome Mortgage December 2025 General Announcement 20251208-CL summarizes previously published changes made during December, additional changes made with the announcement, and recent Agency and regulatory news.
Newrez Correspondent provided multiple notifications to Approved Clients including FHFA’s recent increase to conforming and High-Balance Loan Limits will also apply to all USDA Purchases and refinance transactions, effective for USDA mortgages closed on or after January 1, 2026. FHA’s 2026 Calendar Year (CY) nationwide and individual county loan limits, effective for FHA case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2026 in Mortgagee Letter 2025-23.
Newrez Correspondent Announcement 2025-089 contains the most recent agency announcements, effective immediately for all loans in the pipeline, unless otherwise noted.
Clarifications and/or corrections to the Newrez Guides effective December 30, 2025. This memo also includes a summary of previously announced guidelines that have now been incorporated into the Newrez Underwriting Guide and updates to the Product Summaries and/or Overlay Matrix.
Capital Markets
While today feels like a fresh slate/start for the year ahead, let’s look back quickly at some recent happenings that got us here. We learned last week that unemployment remained unchanged in December (according to the Chicago Fed’s real-time unemployment rate forecast), the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index edged up in October (though home prices nationally are expected to moderate/decline in 2026), FOMC minutes showed risks to the labor market have increased (while the upside risks to inflation have diminished somewhat), and initial jobless claims unexpectedly dropped way below consensus.
Treasuries began 2026 selling off slightly, and the extension of Wednesday's losses sent the 30-year yield to its highest close since early September while the 10-year yield stopped just shy of its December high; chalk it up to optimism about the economic outlook. Though, that’s to say nothing of the events in Venezuela over the weekend, which should sway investor sentiment.
This week kicks off quietly with the December ISM manufacturing PMI, the only scheduled news on today’s economic calendar aside from some short-duration Treasury auctions. Releases pick up later in the week with ADP employment for December, JOLTS for November, and the all-important BLS employment report for December on Friday, along with preliminary January consumer sentiment and September housing starts/building permits. Treasury supply consists of just T-bills, though it will announce the mini-Refunding, while the Agencies will release December MBS prepayment reports on Wednesday after the close and into the evening. We begin the week with Agency MBS prices little changed from Friday’s close, the 2-year yielding 3.46, and the 10-year yielding 4.17 after closing last week at 4.19 percent, up 5 basis points for the week.
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