Those in the Northern Hemisphere are moving toward summertime already, it being June. The calendar is always changing, as is the corporate landscape. “Rob, I know that Model Match, RETR, MMI, and Ingenius put out a lot of research regarding housing. Does anyone do it for builders, or commercial real estate?” Yes, Zonda, and now the company is being purchased by CoStar Group; and the acquisition will add to the home building industry’s top B2B information platform. Yesterday was Taylor Morrison/Berkshire Hathaway, and before that was Xactus buying Mortgage Credit Link (MCL) from MeridianLink. This raised a number of eyebrows, as it suggested to the many CRAs (that utilize MCL’s technology) that a large competitor will have access to their sensitive data. I received this note: “Didn’t Xactus create its own platform, move all its clients off MCL, but is now purchasing the platform?” Credit modernization will definitely be a topic on tomorrow’s L1 show featuring Churchill Mortgage’s Matt Clarke. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Experian and the Experian Verify Hub. The platform brings manual submissions in-house and consolidates post-submission activities into a single environment, aiming to provide more streamlined access, faster insights, and a more cohesive user experience. Today’s has an interview with TD Bank’s Scott Lindner on the shift in how first-time buyers are approaching homeownership, as affordability challenges continue to reshape expectations, timelines, and financial preparation.)
Lender and Broker Products, Software, and Services
A new lead source? Word is, the team at Inside Real Estate (the company that bought BoomTown) has been quietly launching a lead product specifically for lenders. Now operating as BoldTrail, the platform powers lead gen and nurture for the top national real estate brands, with 400k+ agents and 14k LOs leveraging versions of the system today. Mortgage companies can now purchase exclusive, high-intent consumer opportunities from borrowers actively looking for both a loan officer and real estate agent. Early participants are already reporting qualified applications, funded opportunities, and new introductions within the first few weeks. These aren’t cold leads: consumers are actively raising their hands for guidance. Availability is limited since opportunities are exclusive by market, and several metros are already nearing capacity. It might be worth checking if your market is still available- Schedule a call or Email/text Mike Ensch at 562-644-2373.
“Submissions for the 2026 MERS Annual Review & Report are now open! Get started with TENA Companies, Inc. today. Every MERS Member is required to complete a MERS Annual Review & Report. If your firm had 1,000+ active MINs on March 31, 2026, MERS requires the review to be completed by an independent third party, with the results submitted by December 31st. Lock-in a 40 percent early-bird discount by signing up for the MERS Annual Review & Report with TENA and providing the necessary information to perform the review to TENA by August 31. Our experienced team of MERS-certified auditors deliver accurate, efficient, and compliant reviews so you can meet the MERS requirements without stress. Avoid the last-minute rush, get started now on your MERS Annual Review and Report and ensure your review is completed accurately and on schedule. Trust the Leaders in Mortgage Quality Control since 1982, TENA Companies, Inc. Contact Us Today!”
Most mortgage AI automates tasks. JazzX demonstrates what it looks like when AI actually understands the work. Join JazzX AI live at MISMO Spring Summit in Louisville, KY for an on-stage demo of end-to-end intelligent automation in action. See how workflows from application to underwriting with built-in AI that checks, verifies, and explains every decision - driving speed and efficiency without sacrificing quality. Check us on-stage at 2:40PM on June 2nd. Not at the show? Check the livestream, or set up dedicated time with our team.
Less back-and-forth. More first-time-right verifications. Truework replaces manual verification waterfalls with a single automated platform, so underwriters, LOs, and ops can cut down the document chasing, conflicting numbers, and last-minute corrections. Lenders see up to 50 percent cost savings on verifications, with faster turn times, higher accuracy, and stronger R&W relief. Trusted by top lenders in the U.S., Truework gives your team verification results they can rely on. Learn more.
This year, Informative Research, a Stewart Company, celebrates its 80th anniversary. Since 1946, IR has been shaping the way lenders access and act on data. From pioneering merged credit reports in the 1980s, to joining the earliest credit reporters integrated with Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter, to offering the first CRA-delivered soft inquiry prequalification report in 2016, IR has consistently turned complexity into clarity for lenders and their borrowers. Today, IR continues its legacy of excellence, delivering unified credit and verification solutions that help lenders work smarter at every stage of the loan lifecycle. Explore how 80 years of innovation is shaping what's next.
The Chrisman Marketplace is a centralized hub for vendors and service providers across the 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.
Webinars and Podcasts Fast Approaching
AI is creating a new class of mortgage winners. They’re originating loans faster, marketing more efficiently, making smarter decisions, and scaling production in ways that weren’t possible just a few years ago. What’s their secret? They aren’t treating AI as a tool. They’re treating it as an operating model. Join Ignite on June 4 at 12 PM ET for Anatomy of an AI-Enabled Mortgage Company, sponsored by Brody-Gapp, LLC. Discover how leading mortgage organizations are building AI-enabled businesses with the governance, compliance controls, and operational frameworks needed to grow confidently and sustainably. The companies that figure this out first will have a significant advantage over those still trying to catch up. See what an AI-enabled mortgage company really looks like. Reserve your seat now.
Market volatility, subservicer consolidation, AI governance, and rising borrower expectations are reshaping what lenders should expect from their servicing partners. Join LoanCare this Thursday at 2 PM ET for a live, one-hour discussion on how lenders can build a more resilient, future-ready servicing operation in today’s environment. Featuring insights from experts at Richey May, Stockton Mortgage, and LoanCare, this webinar will explore the real challenges shaping servicing decisions right now, and what lenders should be doing next. Register now and reserve your spot.
Today, June 2 is Advisory Angle at 2PM ET and presented by the STRATMOR Group. Sue Woodard, Garth Graham, and new partner Silvia Kennedy break down new STRATMOR research on AI adoption across mortgage. The discussion examines where lenders are deploying AI today and what the data reveals about the industry's pace of change.
Tuesday also has a show focused on origination, Mortgage Pros, at 11AM PT, featuring Audrey Boissonou and Kevin Casey, and… me!
Lenders One’s Mortgage Matters is tomorrow, June 3, at 2PM ET. Robbie, Rob, and Tricia Migliazzo are joined by Matt Clarke, President and COO of Churchill Mortgage, to discuss leadership, resilience, and purpose. The conversation explores lessons from his new book and how mindset, discipline, and values translate into performance and team building.
The AI Show is Wednesday, June 3 at 3PM ET and presented by JazzX AI. Becca Seward, Brooke Anderson-Tompkins, Jagjit Singh, Mike Hogan, and Tela Mathias return for Episode 2 of The AI Show. The discussion tackles the balance between human judgment and AI automation, and what responsible adoption looks like as AI becomes embedded in mortgage workflows.
Capital Markets
How do you feel about the risk that markets have become positioned for a diplomatic outcome that has yet to materialize? Bond yields rose to open the week as doubts over U.S.-Iran talks pushed the price of oil up. Surprisingly, markets are increasingly treating geopolitical risk as a temporary volatility event rather than a lasting “macro shock.” Investors appear willing to look through ongoing Middle East escalation because they believe some form of U.S.-Iran accommodation is ultimately more likely than a sustained disruption to global energy flows.
Time will tell, and that assumption is doing a tremendous amount of work across asset classes: the Treasury market in particular has shown little urgency to price a stagflationary outcome despite crude trading near levels that would typically generate greater inflation concern. If negotiations break down or energy infrastructure becomes a more direct target, the move higher in yields would likely be driven less by growth optimism and more by a repricing of inflation risk, potentially pushing 10-year yields back above 4.50 percent while forcing investors to reconsider how much geopolitical premium should be embedded in rates.
Simultaneously, the narrative surrounding the Federal Reserve has shifted in a hawkish direction even without any explicit tightening signal from policymakers. Few expect the Committee to cut rates at its meeting later this month, but it’s telling how rapidly officials are abandoning the easing bias that dominated forecasts just a few months/quarters ago. Manufacturing surveys, inflation components, and recent Fed communication all suggest growing discomfort with the assumption that inflation will naturally glide back to 2 percent, which is notable because the shift is occurring before there is compelling evidence of economic deterioration.
The front end of the yield curve increasingly reflects a market that sees policy staying unchanged well into 2026, while the long end remains hostage (for lack of a better term) to swings in oil prices and term premium. Put another way, the yield curve is no longer expressing the debate about imminent cuts versus hikes; it's expressing a debate about whether inflation persistence or growth deterioration will ultimately be the catalyst that breaks the Fed's current equilibrium.
The market may be eager for signs of how Fed Chair Warsh will reshape our central bank, but his first FOMC meeting (June 16-17) is more likely to signal continuity than regime change. Warsh is inheriting a Committee that has already shifted in a hawkish direction (even among traditionally dovish members), and the path of least resistance now likely seems to be a neutral policy stance and a dot plot that removes remaining expectations for rate cuts through 2026 rather than introducing a meaningful hiking bias.
While some officials may begin penciling in higher rates, there is not yet sufficient evidence that inflation persistence clearly outweighs downside risks to growth. The more consequential long-term debate may center on the balance sheet: Warsh has consistently advocated for a smaller Fed footprint, but any effort to reduce reserve management purchases or accelerate balance sheet normalization will have to contend with strong institutional support for the ample-reserves framework and lingering sensitivity around funding market stability.
Data released yesterday revealed that the ISM Manufacturing Index hit 54.0 percent in May, better than expected, and up from 52.7 percent in April. The dividing line between expansion and contraction is 50.0 percent, so the May figure is evidence of an acceleration in the rate of change in manufacturing activity compared to April. The report continued to show stagflationary elements for the second consecutive month, as employment remained in contraction (though at a slower rate) while the prices index only dipped slightly from its highest level since early 2022. The S&P Global U.S. Manufacturing PMI hit 55.1 in the final reading for May, down from 55.3 in the flash reading. Despite price concerns, demand in both sectors has shown signs of resilience. Separately, construction spending increased 0.4 percent month-over-month in April (better than expected) after increasing a downwardly revised 0.2 percent in March. On a year-over-year basis, construction spending was up 0.9 percent. New single-family construction spending increased a solid 1.4 percent in April but was still down 2.9 percent year-over-year.
Today’s economic calendar has the non-market-moving Redbook same store sales, JOLTS Job Openings for April, and a speech from Cleveland Fed President Hammack. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices better by .125-.250, the 2-year yielding 4.01, and the 10-year yielding 4.43 after closing yesterday at 4.48 percent.
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