As hundreds of attendees add Bob Seger, Madonna, Eminem, and Stevie Wonder to their playlists in preparation for the MMLA conference starting this weekend in Michigan, and my son Robbie hunkers down in the rain in Sheboygan, WI., I received this note. “We’re a nationwide lender and have begun the hunt for a new AMC. Any suggestions?” Nope, but a solid place to start is at this Marketplace, a free centralized hub for vendors and service providers across the mortgage industry to be viewed by lenders. You may be nationwide, but all real estate is local, with different pros and cons. For example, at the MBA Hawai’i conference, HOA and insurance costs are weighing heavily on their markets. Inventory levels have crept up, the fire damage in Maui is a multi-year exercise in figuring out what to re-build and how to do it with limited manpower and materials. Interest by Japanese, Chinese, and Canadian buyers has plummeted. But there is opportunity: 38 percent of Hawaiian residents are renters. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s are sponsored by nCino. nCino Mortgage unites the people, systems, and stages of the mortgage process into a seamless end-to-end solution embedded with data-driven insights and intelligent automation. Hear an interview with nCino’s Tyler Prows on how automated workflows provide a seamless experience for the borrowers and streamlined app intake for LOs in an end-to-end solution.)

Products, Services, and Software for Lenders and Brokers

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) recently reported that HELOCs are the hottest product in the mortgage market. Shocker! Yet, ‘the industry average to close a HELOC is 39 days’. What!? That's far too long for today’s borrowers who expect speed, simplicity, and digital-first experiences. At NFTYDoor, we close in an average of 6 days. Even better, many of our Fast Pass loans (W2's) can close in as little as zero days. Happy borrowers mean stronger relationships, and more revenue for you. With HELOC demand surging, the opportunity for innovation is massive. It’s time to rethink manual operations and deliver the fast, frictionless access to home equity that borrowers now demand. Stop making borrowers wait 39 days. Show them mercy: email seth@nftydoor.com to get started.

Have the costs for third-party reviews of home equity loans been too high? Most issuers think so, and now the credit rating agencies, at least some of them, are coming around to that way of thinking. A recent issue of Asset Backed Alert discussed the trend towards reduced scope reviews for rated home equity securitizations and which agencies are willing to accept comprehensive, less-expensive reviews. In that article, Covius Chief Business Officer Pete Pannes explained the benefit of reduced scopes, saying: “Reduced-scope reviews remove a significant underwriting expense for the issuer and remove a source of friction from the securitization process, which is the cost of the per loan review as a percentage of the loan balance.” Want to learn more about which rating agencies are now accepting reduced scope reviews and how Clayton can help you navigate the changing securitization rules? Contact Clayton VP-Business Development Tom Coffey or Clayton VP-Business Development Pete Butler to get the inside scoop.

Flocks of starlings are known for the way they swoop and swirl to form shape-shifting clouds in perfect synchronicity. The murmuration is effortless, coordinated, awe-inspiring. How do starlings do it? By responding quickly to change. Tropos is a digital mortgage solution that’s just as nimble, allowing lenders to customize loan application workflows, tweak how and when borrower tasks are triggered, and even apply custom branding for different business units, origination channels, and product lines with just a few clicks. See for yourself how it adapts to your needs to move borrowers through the lending process with ease and confidence. Fly in concert with Tropos.

What is the one thing Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z can agree on? Timely, personalized communication regarding their home loan is critical to satisfaction with their lender. And while results from the 2025 ICE Borrower Insights Survey show 89 percent of this year’s respondents are satisfied with the level of communication from their mortgage servicer, the satisfaction rate, and the preferred method of communication, varies significantly across the generations. That’s why it’s so important to have a robust digital platform for borrowers to access their loan information anytime, anywhere. Read the blog to discover key homeowner insights that showcase the critical need to offer digital tools and create personalized experiences in a competitive market.

Ready to eliminate manual locking headaches? The latest enhancement to the Optimal Blue® PPE fully automates best efforts locking, eliminating the need to toggle between systems or rekey data. Now, lock desk users can complete the entire transaction directly within the PPE in just one click. Best effort lock requests are sent directly to investors via API, cutting processing time from minutes per loan to just seconds. Loan data flows securely between systems, ensuring real-time updates and a clear audit trail. This real-time, system-to-system connectivity gives investors a faster, more reliable path to lock, and strengthens relationships with originator partners. We don't just promise you measurable value. We power it. To learn more and connect with a product expert who can help you activate this powerful new capability in the Optimal Blue PPE, visit our Digital Hub.

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.

Freddie Mac Performance

Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today reported its Second Quarter 2025 financial results. Freddie’s net worth is pegged at $65 billion after its net income of $2.4 billion although the net income was down 14 percent year-over-year primarily driven by an increase in the provision for credit losses. Freddie’s net revenues were $5.9 billion, a decrease of 1 percent year-over-year, primarily driven by lower non-interest income, partially offset by higher net interest income.

Climate and Weather-Related News

Abolishing FEMA won’t change the weather, or the human toll, and their impact on families, lenders, and servicers. The weather-related events in Texas (severe storms, straight-line winds, and flooding) has led to FEMA declaring certain counties disaster areas: DR-4879-TX. A disaster declaration triggers policy and procedure changes in lenders, servicers, and vendors.

But FEMA is denying some funding after floods. And Fox News reports that $608 million is being offered to states through a new Trump FEMA program so they can build migrant detention facilities. “The Administration has leaned on local partners in GOP-led states to rapidly scale up immigration detention system.”

Meanwhile, U.S. citizens continue to be impacted by disasters, which in turn impact servicers and lenders. FEMA Disaster Declarations: Tennessee DR-4878, Arkansas DR-4873, and Kentucky DR-4864.

In addition, now we have West Virginia DR-4884-WV and New Mexico DR-4886-NM.

The Presidentially-Declared Major Disaster Area (PDMDA) declaration in Texas (DR-4879-TX), originally issued on July 6, 2025, due to the recent catastrophic flooding across the State, was updated on July 13, 2025, to include additional counties. With this update, the following counties are now approved for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Individual and/or Public Assistance programs: Burnet, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Llano, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, San Saba, Tom Green, Travis, and Williamson counties. This guidance serves as a reminder that applies to all Presidentially Declared Major Disaster Areas (PDMDAs), which can be found in the Single-Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1 (Handbook 4000.1), unless communicated otherwise through waivers or Mortgagee Letters.

PHH Mortgage Disaster Alert announced new disaster declaration’s for New Mexico DR-4886 and West Virginia DR-4884.

On 7/22/2025, with DR-4884, FEMA declared federal disaster aid with individual assistance to two West Virginia counties, Marion and Ohio. See AmeriHome Mortgage Disaster Announcement 20250708-CL for inspection requirements.

On July 22, 2025, with DR-4886, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declared that federal disaster aid with individual assistance has been made available to Lincoln county in New Mexico to supplement recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe storms, flooding, and landslides from June 23, 2025, and continuing. View AmeriHome Mortgage Disaster Announcement 20250707-CL for details.

Capital Markets

As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee left the federal funds rate unchanged at 4.25-4.5 percent after the conclusion of its July meeting yesterday. This was despite dissent from Governors Waller and Bowman, who both favored a cut, reflecting both political dynamics and genuine policy debate amid tariff-driven stagflation risks. Fed Chair Powell emphasized that rates remain appropriate given ongoing uncertainty, resisting political pressure from President Trump, whose public calls for cuts and threats to remove Powell have raised concerns about Fed independence. While markets anticipate a possible cut by September, the Fed is waiting on clearer signals, particularly from labor data, as mixed economic indicators suggest it's too soon to commit to easing. September rate cut odds now sit around 50/50, down from about 65 percent earlier this week.

Speaking of mixed economic signals, U.S. economic growth rebounded to 3.0 percent in Q2 after a Q1 contraction, driven largely by a drop in imports, though overall momentum slowed in the first half of the year due to reduced consumer spending and cautious business investment amid trade policy uncertainty. Growth averaged just 1.25 percent, a full point below 2024’s pace, and inflation eased slightly, but the full effects of tariffs are yet to fully materialize in the backwards-looking data. A key demand measure, final sales to private domestic purchasers, rose just 1.2 percent in Q2, the weakest since 2022, signaling caution ahead as inflation and labor market risks build.

Readers of the Commentary are focused on the real estate market and lending… Home price appreciation is slowing nationally, with the latest FHFA and S&P indexes showing the weakest annualized gains since early 2023, though regional differences remain stark: prices are still rising sharply in the Northeast but declining in states like Colorado, Texas, and Florida. State-level data shows Florida as the only state with a notable drop in average Fannie Mae loan sizes, down over 8 percent from last June, while Ginnie Mae loan sizes have only declined in Washington D.C., a very small market. Despite recent home price softness in some areas, average agency loan sizes continue to rise overall, and given the persistent shortage of single-family housing, a significant national decline in loan sizes is unlikely in the near term.

Separately, pending home sales fell 0.8 percent in June, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors. Regionally, the decline was driven by weaker activity in the Midwest, South, and West, while the Northeast posted a modest gain. On a year-over-year basis, pending sales were down 2.8 percent, with declines again concentrated in the Midwest, South, and West, and activity in the Northeast remaining unchanged.

Today’s economic calendar kicked off with U.S.-based employers announcing 62k job cuts in July, up 29 percent from June’s 48k, and up 140 percent from 26k announced in the same month last year, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. We’ve also received The June core Personal Consumption Expenditure (+.3 percent as expected, +2.8 percent year-over-year) which is today’s feature, Personal income (higher than expected) and spending (+.3 percent, lower than expected), and weekly jobless claims (218k, less than expected). Later today brings Chicago PMI for July, Treasury activity that will be headlined by a buyback in 10- to 20-year coupons for up to $2 billion, and Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. After the initial salvo of news, Agency MBS prices are slightly better than Wednesday’s close, the 2-year yielding 3.93, and the 10-year yielding 4.34 after closing yesterday at 4.38 percent.