The big keep getting bigger: Real Brokerage announced that it is purchasing RE/MAX for $550 million, revealing that, including debt, the deal is worth an estimated $880 million. The name will be the Real REMAX Group (“a transformative opportunity to fuse REMAX’s strong brand equity with leading AI technology”) and it’s been reported that Motto Mortgage, owned by RE/MAX, will retain its current business model of a mortgage brokerage franchisor following the completion of this deal. REMAX doesn’t belong to the National Association of Realtors, although “they” say that 87 percent of real estate agents are NAR members. NAR tells us that 63 percent of its members are female. There are agents who are part-time license holders, people who got licensed but never entered the business, and even agents on a team where all deals are closed under the team leader. The 2025 NAR Member Profile paints a different picture. Among REALTORS® specializing in residential sales, only 5 percent reported zero transaction sides in 2024, the typical Realtor completed 10 transaction sides, and Realtors with two years or less experience reported a median of 3 transactions. LOs should be careful who they call on! (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Figure, which is shaking up the lending world with their five-day HELOC, offering borrower approvals in as little as five minutes and funding in five days. Figure has hundreds of partners in the Banking, Credit Union, Home Improvement, and of course, IMB space embedding their technology. Today’s has an interview with Seroka’s John Seroka on how brands are discovered by prioritizing credible, structured, and widely validated information over traditional SEO, making it critical for companies to build consistent digital authority and trust signals.)

Lender and Broker Products and Services

“The lenders who scaled through 2023 and 2024 didn't wait for rates to come back. They built systems that worked regardless of where rates were. At Loansure (formerly Monster Lead Group) we've spent 12 years building exactly that: a consumer-direct loan acquisition system that combines proprietary homeowner data, AI-driven targeting, and full-funnel accountability measured at the funded loan. Less spend. Less headcount. More closings. If you ran direct marketing lead generation before and it didn't work, you weren't running our model. Schedule a Demo at loansure.ai.”

“Essex Mortgage is a pioneer and consistent leader in Down Payment Assistance, offering unsurpassed customer service and reliable pricing. We pride ourselves on being a dependable partner for your long-term success and confidence in the DPA space. Our diverse program includes: 600 FICO options, 2-1 buydowns and special Builder programs. We offer 100% delegation for quick closings and flexible financing, including amortized second mortgages or a 3-year forgivable loan at a 0% interest rate. At Essex Mortgage, we are the real deal. Many have tried to imitate us, but no one has been able to duplicate our commitment to excellence. Join us at the MBA in New York or contact us here to partner with us today and see how you can expand your purchasing opportunities!”

Arrive Home and Mountain West Financial are attending MBA’s Secondary & Capital Markets Conference with a clear focus: helping lenders expand product offerings and drive growth. Connect with Matt Pettit and Shawn King to explore solutions designed to broaden borrower eligibility, increase pull-through, and support sustainable production. From down payment assistance to alternative paths to homeownership, our programs integrate seamlessly into your existing strategy. If you’re evaluating ways to strengthen your pipeline without increasing operational complexity, let’s schedule time to connect onsite.

In mortgage lending, the biggest advantage is often the quietest one. Knowing something sooner. Understanding what matters. Seeing the signal before the noise takes over. The Xactus360 Intelligent Verification PlatformSM helps lenders focus on the right data at the right time, giving teams the insight they need to make better loan decisions faster. Because clarity is not about more data. It is about the right data at the right time. Discover the advantage of seeing the signal sooner. Visit here.

Your customers are sending you signs. Miss them and they’ll become someone else’s customers. Every click, inquiry, and interaction is a signal. The question is whether you’re acting on them fast enough. LoanCare’s new guide, “Unlocking Retention Opportunity,” demonstrates how top lenders are turning signals into action. With digital-first engagement, data-driven insights, and seamless handoffs to your sales team, LoanCare can help you stay connected with your borrowers so the moment they’re ready to act, you have the advantage. The result? Stronger relationships, better borrower experiences, and happier loan officers. Download the guide and unlock your full retention potential.

Elevate your accounting function today! As an independent mortgage bank, your focus should be on growth, not accounting headaches. Whether you have no accounting expertise in-house or you have a new team with no mortgage experience, you can lean on the Richey May team for the support you need. This team is stacked with mortgage industry experts who can tailor your solution to meet your most pressing needs with no training needed. Need help transitioning to loan-level accounting? Need a fully outsourced function? You got it! Need industry training for your controller? We can do that. Contact Richey May today to get started on the solution that fits your business.

“Join JazzX at HousingWire The Gathering in Austin this week and see how top lenders are putting AI to work - cutting manual effort, speeding up loan cycles, and improving borrower experience. Stop by our kiosk to get a quick look at how we automate document workflows, surface real-time insights, and fit into your existing systems without disruption. We’ll share what’s actually working across lenders today, not just theory. Want dedicated time? Request a demo.”

Schedule your meeting with HomeLend during MBA’s Secondary & Capital Markets Conference, May 17 to May 20 at the Marriott Marquis in New York City. To schedule a date and time, contact gerry.walker@homelend.com, doug.potolsky@homelend.com, or page@homelend.com. Margin pressure, liquidity constraints, and shifting borrower demand continue to challenge performance across the industry. Access and execution are critical, and this is where HomeLend delivers a timely and effective solution. HomeLend provides a centralized solution that connects you to more than 20 investors and over 60 programs across Agency, Non-QM, DSCR, Bank Statement, Jumbo, ITIN, and second liens, while supporting execution within your existing model. This allows you to expand product offerings, match more borrowers to the right execution, improve pull-through and margins, and respond more effectively to changing market conditions without adding operational complexity. Learn more and view the full loan program overview here click 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.

MISMO’s Brian Vieaux on Technology

People in the mortgage industry talk endlessly about digital transformation, but that conversation tends to gloss over the harder question: does any of it actually hold up when the system is under real pressure? It’s one thing for a process to work in a controlled environment or a polished demo. It’s another for it to perform consistently across thousands of loans moving simultaneously through different systems, counterparties, and checkpoints. That’s really what sits at the center of the “reliable at scale” idea.

It came up in a recent MISMO MIC’D UP conversation with Brian Pannell and David Garrett from DocMagic: What stood out wasn’t some new piece of technology, but how much of this comes back to fundamentals. They framed it in simple terms: everyone has to be speaking the same language from origination through closing and into delivery. In practice, that “language” is data; how it’s structured, how it’s interpreted, and whether it actually lines up across systems. The industry has plenty of integrations that technically work, but too many of them rely on “close enough” alignment. And that’s fine until volume increases or complexity creeps in. Then the gaps show up quickly.

Capital Markets

The news flow continues unabated. Lenders have their collective eye on rates, and bond yields rose to open the week after President Trump called off his delegation's trip to Pakistan over the weekend. Crude oil prices rose for a sixth straight session. However, there were reports of Iran presenting a plan to restore traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which prevented sentiment from shifting toward a more pessimistic view. The U.S. Treasury’s attempt to sell large amounts of short- (2-year) and intermediate-term (5-year) debt drew only middling demand for the 2-year auction and notably weaker interest for the 5-year, forcing yields higher and signaling a softening appetite for Treasuries.

That lackluster demand spilled into the broader bond market, triggering a sell-off across maturities as investors reassessed the strength of demand for U.S. debt. Of note to those on capital markets desks, with the month almost closed, Ginnie Mae issuance is about $10.5 billion higher (+24 percent) month-over-month versus March, as refinances are still flowing through in pool issuance and spring purchases are beginning to be seen in the April figures.

The U.S. MBS market softened modestly last week, snapping a three-week winning streak and posting an 11-basis point excess return loss, even as monthly performance remains positive. Weakness was concentrated in shorter-duration products (particularly Fannie Mae 15- and 20-year cohorts) amid a modest Treasury bear-flattening led by the front end of the yield curve. Overall volatility and trading activity remain subdued, and spreads have tightened slightly in the benchmark 30-year current coupon, keeping valuations broadly fair versus investment-grade corporates but somewhat rich relative to Treasuries. Within the sector, 15- and 20-year paper screens are relatively cheap on an OAS basis. Performance trends also favored lower-duration, higher-coupon exposures, with select higher-coupon spec pools (5.0+ percent, notably in high-LTV, investor, and Texas collateral) continuing to offer better relative value. Investors are prioritizing shorter duration, lower payups, and capital preservation while waiting for a clearer direction. Yay ARMs!

The Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting that begins today is expected to end without a policy shift, as markets widely anticipate the Federal Open Market Committee will hold rates steady. It is the final decision of Jerome Powell’s term as chair, and attention is instead focused on his future, particularly after the Justice Department “dropped” its investigation last week. The issue had complicated the confirmation of his potential successor, Kevin Warsh, and raised questions about whether Powell might remain on the Board through his governor term, which runs to 2028.

Regardless, markets aren’t fully pricing in another rate cut until well into 2027; longer-term yields reflect a stable term premium and anchored inflation expectations. It’s important to note that the Fed is doing its best to retain flexibility to influence financial conditions indirectly, even without changing policy rates, leaving open the possibility of subtle support for markets if economic conditions warrant.

Today’s economic calendar kicks off shortly with February house prices from both FHFA and S&P Case-Shiller. That will be followed by April Consumer Confidence and a Treasury auction of $44 billion 7-year notes. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices worse by about .125, the 2-year yielding 3.85, and the 10-year yielding 4.37 after closing yesterday at 4.34 percent.