If you think that profit per loan, or gain per unit, is based purely on size, think about this short video. “Profit” can also be a personal measure in terms of income versus expenses. Owning a home is all about having a job and spending less than you earn. Bankrate’s 2025 Wage to Inflation Index revealed that prices rose 23 percent since the start of 2021 while wages were up a cumulative 22 percent. This is why many households feel like they’re falling behind, even if they’re making more money, not even looking at the current prices for gas or steak. For lenders interested in vendor management, return on equity is important, and part of that is making sure third-party providers “talk” to each other. Hearing about that is covered in the monthly Chrisman Demo Day that kicks off August 20, built for people who want to see how new technology actually works, not just hear about it. If you read this newsletter every day, this event is for you. And if you're a technology or service provider interested in participating, reach out to Jake Perkins to learn about the Chrisman Marketplace and member perks. (Today’s podcast can be found here. This week’s ‘casts are sponsored by Optimal Blue. Optimal Blue’s Profitability Center unifies pricing, hedge performance, pipeline activity, profitability, and market intelligence into one personalized dashboard, giving mortgage lenders faster, more complete insights to make better capital markets decisions. Today’s has an interview with UpPayment recipient Tiffany Bauldwin on her first-time homebuyer's journey, including how achieving homeownership has shaped their confidence, future, and long-term financial outlook.)
Lender and Broker Software, Products, and Services
Affordability pressure doesn't disappear when the loan closes. It comes back later as repurchase risk. Your borrowers are stretched, leaving less room for errors in the file. Truework, a Checkr Company, verifies income, employment, and assets before you close, replacing error-prone processes with fast, automated reports pulled directly from sources. Lenders see up to 50 percent cost savings on verifications, with faster turn times and higher accuracy. Learn more.
“ACI is excited to sponsor and exhibit at Valuation Expo 2026, taking place August 17–19 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. As the appraisal industry continues to evolve, we're committed to providing the technology appraisers need to work more efficiently and confidently navigate the future of valuation. Stop by Booth #1 to meet the ACI team and discover how our innovative solutions, including ACI Sky™, helps appraisers work more efficiently from inspection through report delivery. Explore our cloud-based technology, mobile capabilities, and integrated tools designed to simplify the appraisal process while supporting the transition to UAD 3.6. Whether you're an existing ACI customer or exploring new appraisal technology, we'd love to connect, answer your questions, and demonstrate how ACI can help your business thrive. Visit www.ACIweb.com to learn more about our solutions. We look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas!”
“Mortgage doesn't need more AI. Every week, another company announces an AI solution for mortgage lending. The industry doesn't have an AI shortage. It has an intelligence shortage. At Balerion, we believe the mortgage industry needs Mortgage Intelligence, not just more AI. Our technology understands an entire loan file, connects information across hundreds of pages, explains every finding, identifies where human expertise delivers the greatest value, and generates actionable recommendations. Balerion isn't just another tool that automates a single task or summarizes documents. It's an intelligence layer purpose-built for lending that helps teams spend less time reviewing documents and more time making confident lending decisions before underwriting begins. That's the difference between automation and Mortgage Intelligence. The future won't belong to the lenders with the most AI. It will belong to the lenders with the best intelligence. See what Mortgage Intelligence looks like by requesting a demo at Balerion.ai.”
When I speak to the best loan officers, they’ve figured out how to minimize time chasing down documents, and more time growing and moving their pipeline. When a POS creates friction (incomplete applications, stalled disclosures, and missing documents) it costs you revenue. The Maxwell Point of Sale, removes that friction. Lenders on the Maxwell POS experience 90 percent application submission rates, and an average clear-to-close under 18 days. More meaningfully, LO officers on Maxwell close 20 percent more loans a month. Over 300 lenders and financial institutions have already made the switch. See what's possible at himaxwell.com.
“Wholesale lending is getting more competitive. New wholesale lenders are entering the market, retail lenders are launching wholesale divisions, and everyone is competing for the attention of the same mortgage brokers. The wholesale lenders that win will be the ones that engage brokers more consistently and turn that engagement into more loan submissions. Join us on Wednesday, August 19th at 10 a.m. PT for The Modern Wholesale Lender Sales Model, where we’ll show how wholesale lenders can use broker activity and “last touch” data to help AEs manage accounts more systematically, improve follow-up, and keep valuable broker relationships from falling through the cracks. We’ll also discuss how this approach can improve CRM adoption and make sales and marketing campaigns more effective by ensuring the right brokers are being contacted at the right time. If you’re looking to generate more production from your broker network, register here.”
Chrisman Demo Day is a free perk for all Chrisman Marketplace members. If you're a technology or service provider and haven't joined the Marketplace yet, reach out to info@chrismancommentary.com to learn more.
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.
Non-Agency Products
One notable theme noted at the Western Secondary in Los Angeles this week was the rise of non-Agency production. LOs know that DSCR loans aren’t really a residential product, but there’s plenty of other products. Today’s non-QM market bears little resemblance to the pre-crisis non-Agency market, when lending was largely a credit-risk outlet for borrowers with damaged profiles; instead, modern non-QM is primarily a situational lending solution for financially sound borrowers whose income or assets do not fit neatly into agency guidelines, including self-employed borrowers, investors, and people with complex tax returns.
The performance is there: despite early skepticism that non-QM was simply “subprime 2.0,” disciplined underwriting, risk-retention requirements, and lenders’ own capital at risk have produced a strong performance record, while the expanding population of contractors and self-employed workers has structurally increased the addressable market. Additionally, automation has removed much of the historical friction (particularly the tedious process of calculating income from bank statements), making non-QM increasingly accessible to mainstream originators rather than a specialty product requiring extraordinary underwriting expertise.
The opportunity is also expanding beyond traditional non-QM mortgages, particularly through bank-statement HELOCs and closed-end seconds, which allow homeowners with valuable equity and low-rate first liens to access cash without refinancing away an attractive mortgage rate. With projected annual non-QM originations around $150–$200 billion and securitizations around $80–$85 billion this year, the sector is growing even without a broader mortgage-market boom, helped by originators using non-QM as a way to reconnect with referral partners and borrowers who previously assumed financing was unavailable.
Meanwhile, tighter credit spreads reflect investor confidence in the asset class and its performance, with consumer pricing now driven less by non-QM credit risk, if rates decline meaningfully, the combination of proven performance, expanding borrower demographics, better technology, and substantial homeowner equity should only increase non-QM as a mainstream component of residential lending.
Wednesday's episode via Chrisman LLC features Angel Oak's Tom Hutchens on non-qualified mortgage production, alongside commentary from the California MBA Western Secondary panel on the ramp-up in non-agency and equity lending - the channel absorbing the borrowers the agency box is pushing out.
Mortgage Credit Availability Increased in July per the Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) that analyzes data from ICE Mortgage Technology. The MCAI rose by 2.5 percent to 108.4 in July. “Credit availability in June increased to its highest level since July 2022, as greater availability and expanded guidelines for ARM and streamline refinance loans, including some with lower documentation requirements, drove most of the increase,” said Joel Kan, CMB, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “Jumbo credit availability has grown in almost every month this year and this month’s increase brought the jumbo index to its highest level since 2020. Additionally, non-QM loan programs continue to account for a substantial share of this growth.”
Plaza Mortgage reminds brokers that it offers Closed-End Seconds and Jumbo loans up to $3 million, to Non-QM and DSCR Investor Solutions, Condos, Co-ops, Renovation Loans, Manufactured Housing, and even Reverse Mortgage programs.
Effective for Pennymac loan applications dated on or after August 3, 2026, Limited Condo Project Review eligibility will be retired for all non-QM programs. See Announcement 26-86 for details.
Onity Mortgage, f/k/a PHH Mortgage, has revised several topics within the Correspondent Seller Guide and Non-Agency Addendum. Log in to the Onity Mortgage library for more information.
Newfi Wholesale made updates to its Olympic Program. Some updates include deed of trust retrieval, ordering WVOE/VOI, increased max loan amounts to 750k, and more.
Capital Markets
With PPI unchanged month-over-month in July when it was expected to increase 0.1 percent, and Core PPI increasing less than expected (total PPI and Core PPI both declined on a year-over-year basis versus June), it would appear there are no new inflation surprises. Paired with a CPI report that showed some welcome disinflation on a year-over-year basis, and a sharply weakening labor market (with payrolls falling 23k in July, prior months being revised down by 103k, wage growth slowing to 3.15 percent year-over-year, the participation rate dropping to 61.4 percent, and annual payroll growth slowing to just 0.2 percent), it certainly makes a rate hike from the Federal Reserve increasingly difficult to justify.
Agency MBS and U.S. Treasuries took some solace in the assumption that the Fed is less likely to raise interest rates next month. However, inflation remains well above the Fed’s 2 percent target and therefore still leaves room for caution among inflation hawks. July's softer inflation data reduced expectations for the implied probability of a 25-basis point increase next month, falling from over 40 percent to under 35 percent, prompting a favorable response in the front end of the Treasury curve. But that’s the front end of the yield curve…The U.S. government yesterday sold 30-year bonds at the highest interest rate in a quarter of a century, a testament to investor demand for compensation to finance the nation’s expanding deficit. The yield at the $25 billion sale Thursday came in at 5.22 percent, the highest since 2001. The sale follows the Treasury Department’s 10-year auction on Wednesday, which drew the highest financing cost at that duration since 2007.
Underwriting standards, credit quality, and borrower performance are all related. Ginnie Mae mortgage delinquencies have risen to levels that warrant close monitoring but do not yet signal a systemic crisis, with 90+ day delinquencies in Ginnie Mae II 30-year pools reaching roughly 3.9 percent, the highest in more than a decade outside the pandemic period, driven primarily by FHA borrowers; notably, FHA severe delinquencies at 5.3 percent are more than four times their pre-Covid average, while VA delinquencies at 1.8 percent are more than double their historical norm. The broader delinquency picture is even more stark, with any-stage delinquencies at 11.4 percent for FHA and 3.8 percent for VA, versus just 1.3 percent for conventional mortgages. Recent roll rates have actually moderated relative to long-run averages, suggesting the deterioration is concerning rather than yet alarming. Rising delinquencies in the lower-credit, low-down-payment FHA segment reinforce the importance of maintaining disciplined credit standards and closely monitoring the relationship between borrower credit quality and future mortgage performance.
Today’s economic calendar kicked off with July Retail Sales (-.6 percent, a downward surprise, versus a prior reading and expectations of a 0.2 percent increase) and Retail Sales, Ex-Auto (-.3 percent). Retail sales were forecast to have risen modestly in July (remember, these are not inflation adjusted), held back by lower spending at gas stations and new vehicle sales. Core sales were supposed to print stronger. Later today brings June Business Inventories and Preliminary August University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment. We begin the day with Agency MBS slightly better than Thursday’s close, given the weak retail sales numbers, the 2-year yielding 4.10, and the 10-year yielding 4.63 after closing yesterday at 4.64 percent.
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