JPMorgan told FinTechs that it will charge for access to its customers’ bank information. The fees would bring big bucks to JPMorgan but eat into the profit margin of any lender or credit reporting agency or verification service. Will this become a trend with other depositories? Lenders and their originators, along with MBS investors, carefully watch trends in income and individuals. The gig economy, driven by on-demand work and services like rideshares and food delivery, is a growing part of the U.S. economy and primarily consists of sole proprietorships tracked by the U.S. Census Bureau’s Non-employer Statistics (NES) program. In 2023, the top five gig-related industries by number of individual proprietors were Couriers and Messengers, Taxi and Limousine Services, Janitorial Services, Independent Artists/Writers/Performers, and Child Care Services, all showing notable growth from 2018 figures. While not all non-employer businesses are part of the gig economy, these industries highlight the increasing prevalence and economic significance of gig-based work. Back to JPMorgan, some lenders are doing well, at least in the big bank world. JPMorgan reported that mortgage origination volume increased 26 percent YOY to $13.5 billion. Despite the jump in volume, production income actually fell, from $157 million to $151 million, but this was offset by an increase in servicing income. Wells Fargo clocked in at $7.4 billion in the quarter versus $5.3 billion for the second quarter last year. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s are sponsored by Ocrolus. Ocrolus is transforming the mortgage industry with AI-powered data and analytics, featuring cutting-edge tools for automated indexing, income analysis, and discrepancy insights that empower underwriters to make timely, confident lending decisions. Hear an interview with Curinos’ Ken Flaherty and Rich Martin on key opportunities for lenders to attract, retain, and grow more profitable customer relationships, across both first mortgages and home equity products.)
Services, Products, and Programs for Lenders and Brokers
“It takes 10 minutes, on average, to manually retrieve, reconcile and key in data for each Purchase Advice. But what if you could reduce that to a single click? OptiFunder's AI-powered automation makes the entire process truly hands-free. Our next-generation platform manages PAs directly from any investor (agencies, aggregators, housing authorities) and instantly retrieves, reconciles the data with your expected values, and updates your LOS. No more ‘stare and compare’ or spreadsheet gymnastics. Intelligent document processing reads complex or multi-loan PDFs, flags discrepancies automatically, and pushes data back to your LOS in seconds. Users can define their own prompts and variances to control what gets flagged for review, giving teams complete flexibility over how reconciliation is handled. OptiFunder is eliminating hundreds of hours of manual work, accelerating payoffs, reducing errors, and turning funding operations into a strategic advantage by reimagining the entire warehouse process. Ready to see what intelligent automation really looks like? Let’s talk.”
Did you know in June, annual house price appreciation hit its slowest rate since March 2012? It's true! In case you missed it, First American Data & Analytics recently released its June Home Price Index (HPI) report where you can receive the most current insights into home price changes at the national, state, and metropolitan CBSA levels. In the report, First American Chief Economist Mark Fleming says, “The national affordability crunch hits potential first-time homebuyers the hardest since they can’t bring cash from an existing home sale to the closing table. These first-time buyers typically target the starter home price tier, and in June, prices at this level declined in 14 of the top 30 markets we track.” Download a full copy of their report to learn more valuable insights.
Are you feeling squeezed by high first mortgage rates? Do your borrowers need to consolidate high rate credit card debt? A Symmetry Lending Standalone HELOC has options for your clients! There’s no need to touch the 1st mortgage: Keep it intact and your clients can unlock the available equity in their home. This is also a great way to reconnect with past clients and offer them real value. We offer HELOCs in 40 states with fast closing and minimal hassle. Symmetry has property flexibility with SFRs, 2-4 units, condos, townhomes, PUDs, and doublewide manufactured homes: Symmetry Lending!
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.
Processing Products for Lenders and Brokers
In 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 lost both engines just minutes after takeoff from LaGuardia. Onboard systems recommended they return to the runway, but Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who had decades of flying experience, knew there wasn’t time and instead made an emergency water landing on the Hudson, saving all 155 souls on board. Likewise, loan officers must safely chart the course of first-time buyers who freeze at closing time or whose income structure doesn’t square with traditional calculations. It’s these humans, not automated systems, who recognize the pause, ask the right questions and find the best ways to right the ship. With both decades of mortgage tech and homebuying experience, Jason Mapes, Head of Sales at Floify, explores the dynamics of the human-automation dynamic in a new blog. Because when the stakes are high, it’s the human at the helm who makes all the difference.
“As a trusted mortgage professional your time is best spent guiding clients through the homebuying journey, not buried in back-office tasks. In today’s fast-paced, competitive market, every minute matters. That’s where wemlo ® comes in: We deliver professional processing with a personal touch, ensuring every file is handled with care, precision, and a deep understanding of your business needs. Our dedicated processing team works efficiently toward the clear-to-close, while you help your clients navigate their way through the homebuying process. Working with wemlo doesn’t just save you time. It elevates the entire client experience. Let wemlo handle the paperwork behind the scenes while you deliver a smooth, stress-free path to homeownership. Ready to streamline your workflow? Connect with wemlo today. NMLS ID 1853218”
Pre-approval letters might seem routine but missteps can quickly spiral into serious compliance issues. Join LenderLogix and Conforma Compliance Group on July 31st, at 1PM EST for a live webinar that unpacks the hidden risks hiding in plain sight. They'll cover the most common mistakes lenders make, how varying state regulations impact your letters, and what you can do to avoid costly violations. If you’re still relying on manual letters, you need this session. Save your seat here.
Ever watch a behind-the-scenes feature and wonder how movies come together? Here’s how one 191-second single take in Children of Men was made. Lighting, sound, camera, actors, all moving in sync toward a single shot. That’s what a great borrower experience should feel like. But in most lending shops, the LO platform, POS, LOS, and support teams are all working off different scripts. Tropos brings them together. It unifies borrower touchpoints into one clean, coordinated journey, no matter the channel, product, or tech stack behind the scenes. If you're constantly chasing updates across departments just to move a file forward, it's time for a better director. Tropos brings order to chaos, so every moment hits its mark. Put your process in harmony with Tropos.
SettlementOne Partners with Halcyon to Automate Income Calculations. Still manually calculating borrower income from tax transcripts? SettlementOne's new Halcyon Income Analyzer changes everything. Leveraging Halcyon's industry-leading 8821-based IRS tax transcript service, this powerful integration pulls verified data directly from transcripts and automatically calculates qualifying income per Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines. What typically consumes hours of underwriting time now completes in minutes with built-in compliance and comprehensive audit trails. The Fannie Mae integration qualifies for representations and warranties relief, reducing your risk while accelerating processing. Access it through Encompass or SettlementOne's web portal, with file locking to prevent errors. Your underwriters can finally focus on decisions, not calculations. The Income Analyzer is available now for all SettlementOne clients. Visit settlementone.com or email accountservices@settlementone.com.
Capital Markets
Tired of dealing with frustrating and sometimes costly TBA settlement issues? Whether it's mismatched trade amounts, incorrect coupons, or the wrong settlement month, manual trading over the phone leaves too much room for error. Agile Trading Technologies offers the solution in its award-winning Electronic TBA Request for Quote (RFQ) Platform. Purpose-built for lenders and the dealers who serve them, Agile eliminates human error, reduces risk, and brings confidence back to your TBA trading process. “Lenders or hedge providers trading on their behalf are constantly running into TBA settlement issues when executing trades over the phone. It’s amazing how much time Secondary teams, Finance teams, and Dealers spend reconciling these issues across the industry,” said Greg Vacura, President of Agile. “The Agile platform eliminates these inefficiencies by digitizing the process of buying and selling TBAs.” Ready to say goodbye to settlement headaches? Contact Agile to get started.
Turning to interest rates, much like most news stories these days, you can read into the consumer inflation report that was released yesterday however you like. After four months of cooler-than-predicted numbers, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that U.S. inflation rose 2.7 percent year-over-year (faster than May’s 2.4 percent reading), basically as expected but still above the Fed’s target. However, unlike in previous months, the new data signaled that some companies are starting to pass tariff-related costs on to consumers. For now, the predictions remain split: some see the tariff impact as a temporary shock, while others view it as the beginning of broader inflationary pressures.
A closer look at the report shows that core goods prices (excluding vehicles) saw their largest monthly increase since late 2021, driven by notable jumps in categories like appliances, toys, furnishings, and sports equipment. Energy and food costs also rose, contributing to a 2.9 percent year-over-year increase in core CPI. However, inflation in housing, once a major post-pandemic driver of headline figures, has slowed enough that it may help counteract some of the tariff-driven increases in goods prices.
Consumers have already begun adjusting their behavior, cutting back on discretionary services such as travel and dining, while goods spending seems to have accelerated in anticipation of higher prices. Retailers’ earlier stockpiling efforts have temporarily softened the inflationary impact, but as those inventories deplete, price pressures could build again. Given these crosscurrents, the Federal Reserve is likely to rely on continued labor market strength as justification for maintaining its cautious, wait-and-see policy stance for now.
Treasury yields resumed their climb amid growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will maintain its current policy stance, with short-term yields, those most sensitive to Fed decisions, leading the move higher. Post-CPI report, yields across the curve reached their highest levels in several weeks, and the 30-year bond briefly touched the 5 percent mark for the first time since early June. Financial markets reacted to the shifting outlook with a modest selloff in Treasuries, wider mortgage spreads, and diminished hopes for rate cuts in the near term.
As most of us are aware, political uncertainty surrounding the Fed is compounding the aforementioned monetary policy challenges. President Trump has renewed his criticism of Fed Chair Powell and hinted at a leadership change, feeding speculation that markets may soon see an earlier-than-expected shift at the helm of the most influential central bank in the world. Even without a formal transition, the prospect of a new (or shadow) Fed Chair with a more dovish stance could influence expectations and market behavior. With another potential round of tariffs targeting the European Union, markets remain jaded after continued threats around the world.
Today’s economic calendar kicked off with Mortgage applications decreasing 10.0 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 11, 2025. Last week’s results included an adjustment for the Fourth of July holiday.
After yesterday’s CPI report, June PPI was released this morning: flat month-over-month, flat on the core rate, +2.3 percent year-over-year. Expectations were for a month-over-month increase of 0.3 percent and 2.5 percent year-over-year versus 2.6 percent previously. Later today brings industrial production and capacity utilization for June, Treasury conducting a buyback in 1- to 7.5-year TIPS for up to $500 million, and a full slate of Fed speakers ahead of next week’s blackout period before the July 29-30 FOMC meeting. Bank earnings also continue, with Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs all reporting before the open. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices slightly improved from Tuesday’s close, the 2-year yielding 3.92, and the 10-year yielding 4.45 after closing yesterday at 4.49 percent.
Get Rob Chrisman Daily by Email
