JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Bank of America, PNC Bank, N.A. and others announced a decrease in its prime lending rate to 7.25 percent, effective today, Sept. 18. As expected, the U.S. Federal Reserve cut the overnight Fed Funds rate by .250. Stephen Miran, who was sworn in just before the two-day policy meeting and is remaining a White House employee for the duration of his stint at the Fed (much to the concern of those wanting an independent Federal Reserve) was the lone dissent among Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) participants, instead favoring a 50-basis-point reduction. Mr. Miran has echoed President Trump’s criticisms of the central bank and called for cheaper borrowing rates. “Rob, I heard a presenter saying that U.S. citizens are saving no money whatsoever. What are you hearing?” I would say that statement is misleading and sensationalist and generalized. Savings vary through different periods of our lives, and different classes save differently. The Fed has a nice graph showing that, aside from COVID when we were hoarding toilet paper and watching Tiger King five years ago, we’re around 5 percent, which is roughly where we’ve been historically. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s are sponsored by CreditXpert. The all-new credit optimization platform that helps you close more loans. CreditXpert is committed to making homeownership more accessible and affordable for ALL. Today’s features an interview with Indecomm’s Rajan Nair on the risks of falling behind in innovation, whether AG(entic)I hype distracts from present issues, and the growing concern over technology power being concentrated in the hands of a few.)
Services, Software, and Tools for Lenders and Brokers
Explore how ICE is investing in the Encompass platform to transform the mortgage lending experience. Nancy Alley, VP of Product Strategy at ICE Mortgage Technology, recently shared an in-depth look at the latest innovations shaping the platform and how they address key industry challenges. With a focus on streamlining operations and advancing automation, she presents actionable insights to help mortgage lenders maximize efficiency across their workflows and stay ahead in a dynamic market. Read the blog here.
Mortgage market research shows that homebuyers within minority groups are predicted to drive significant growth throughout the rest of 2025 and into the coming years. Join the MeridianLink® Mortgage team on Oct. 15 at 10AM PT/1PM ET for a webinar exploring this demographic change and the opportunities within it! We’ll unpack what the current data reveals, as well as outline practical steps to strengthen engagement, trust, and conversion across diverse borrower groups. Ready to position your bank, credit union, or IMB for smarter, future-focused lending? Register today and let’s get started.
Unlock Your Edge with First American Data & Analytics. In today’s fast-paced real estate and financial markets, data isn’t just power… It’s your edge. First American Data & Analytics delivers the most comprehensive, accurate, and timely property, mortgage, and geospatial data in the industry. Whether you're refining risk models, optimizing marketing campaigns, or accelerating decision-making, our data fuels smarter strategies and better outcomes. From AVMs and parcel boundaries to mortgage performance and location intelligence, we provide the insights that drive innovation and growth. Our solutions are trusted by top lenders, investors, and government agencies to reduce risk, uncover opportunity, and stay ahead of the competition. Partner with First American Data & Analytics and turn information into impact.
Refis are up. Purchases are down. Strategies are changing. Looking to make smarter mortgage decisions in a shifting market? Don’t guess… Get the data. Optimal Blue’s latest Market Advantage report delivers real-time insights from direct-source mortgage lock data captured through the Optimal Blue® PPE platform. In August, rate-and-term refinances surged nearly 70%, while purchase activity declined 10%, prompting lenders to pivot strategies fast. “Borrowers are responding quickly to rate improvements, driving the strongest month for rate-and-term refinances we’ve seen this year,” said Mike Vough, head of corporate strategy at Optimal Blue. Meanwhile, non-QM lending reached a new milestone climbing to 8.3% of originations, while securitization gained ground as cash executions declined. Whether you’re monitoring borrower trends or refining capital markets execution, Market Advantage delivers the insights you need to stay ahead. Subscribe now to receive the full August edition, plus future reports, complimentary, actionable, and delivered monthly to your inbox.
“The best hand at MBA Annual isn’t at the tables… It’s with Planet’s Correspondent team. At MBA Annual 2025, we’re dealing a full house of solutions: Renovation, Manufactured Homes, eNotes, Co-issue, and exceptional Sub-servicing. Join us in Las Vegas and put yourself in a winning position in the year ahead. Reserve time with our Correspondent team today or connect directly with Jason Mac Gloan, SVP, Correspondent Sales, at 843-625-6869.”
“Mortgage Retention is a manageable risk…. until it isn’t. Yesterday, the Federal Reserve announced a 25-basis point cut. The 10-year is hovering around 4 percent. And now, the number of borrowers “in the money” for refinance is over 3 million and rising fast. That puts your mortgage and auto portfolios at serious runoff risk. Here’s what we’re hearing from institutions calling FINOFR: Runoff is already accelerating, and they don’t have the staff to handle refinancing demand. FINOFR’s patented Reset technology is built for exactly this moment. We help you retain up to 90 percent of at-risk loans, with solution deployment in 30 days. What we don’t act on today becomes tomorrow’s risk. Leverage FINOFR to crush the refi chaos and keep anchor loans you’ve worked hard to originate. Visit here or contact Foster Kelly to learn more.”
“What do you get when you mix rooftop views, pineapple rum and 250+ mortgage professionals together in Dallas? You get the hottest reception at Five Star! Join Covius Monday night (9/29) at the Waterproof rooftop lounge at the Statler Hotel as we connect at the Five Star Conference & Expo. Be sure to also schedule a meeting to talk with our team while at the conference to learn more about our solutions that are designed to help lenders and servicers control risk and assure compliance, including default title, loss mitigation, title curative, REO & auction, doc prep and more. RSVP for the Covius reception while there’s still space!”
An internal audit is required to apply for or maintain Fannie Mae approval and an effective internal audit function will do so much more. It will help you better understand what is really going on in your operation, so you can make informed decisions and operate more effectively while minimizing your risk. There are many free resources for sellers and servicers, provided by Fannie Mae, to assist in meeting your internal audit requirements. Discover these resources here and tune into Richey May’s Internal Audit Insight video series to get answers to all your internal audit questions. From risk assessment to control identification and testing, each episode explores how internal audits can fortify your operations, enhance compliance, and streamline processes. Email info@richeymay.com to speak with one of our experts today!
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.
Habla Espanol?
CEO Victor Ciardelli, and Rate, with its 850 branches, today announced the launch of the Rate App in Spanish, becoming the first mortgage lender in the U.S. to offer a fully integrated mobile experience entirely in Spanish.
“The release is the latest evolution of Rate’s award-winning Language Access Program. It builds on a key milestone: more than 20,000 digital mortgage applications from Spanish-speaking customers since the program launched in 2022. The mobile app enables Spanish-speaking users to search for homes, apply for a mortgage, track loan status, communicate with bilingual professionals, and access educational content, all 100 percent in Spanish, right from their phones. The release reinforces Rate’s broader commitment to removing language as a barrier to homeownership and delivering a top-tier customer experience to the Spanish-speaking community.
“We’ve already seen what’s possible when we invest in Spanish-language technology: our Latino salesforce has tripled, our funded loan volume in Latino communities has doubled as a percentage of the company’s total book of business, and we’ve far exceeded expectations with 20,000+ digital applications in Spanish,” said Ciardelli. “Now with the Rate App in Spanish, we’re giving Spanish-speaking buyers the same high-performance mobile experience that’s helped millions of homeowners, because language should never be what holds someone back.”
The app launch is supported by a national Spanish-language go-to-market campaign that began in July, spanning 25 top U.S. metro areas with digital ads aimed at both consumers and professionals. Rate expects to generate over 30 million impressions as part of this broader effort to engage the 60 million Latinos in the US, who represent one of the most powerful economic engines in housing today.” Rate’s offering includes a digital mortgage application in Spanish. customer service and LOs fluent in Spanish, loan disclosures, and servicing in Spanish, and Same Day Mortgage™ in Spanish.
Capital Markets
While the Fed’s 25 bps cut was widely expected, the market focus remains on the signals surrounding the decision, from updated projections to commentary on the path forward. MCT’s blog post, Reacting to Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) Market Movement, illustrates practical ways to recognize market signals, interpret MBS price changes, and keep pipelines resilient. By exploring how policy shifts interact with hedging strategies and patterns in rallies and selloffs, the post offers a framework for managing secondary market risk in a changing rate environment. Join MCT’s newsletter to stay informed with the latest market commentary and tools tailored for today’s mortgage capital markets.
As was widely expected, the Federal Open Market Committee cut the federal funds target rate a quarter percent to a range of 4.00 percent to 4.25 percent at the conclusion of its September meeting yesterday, and altered its policy statement to indicate that additional rate cuts are likely in the months ahead. In an 11-1 vote (newly appointed Governor Stephen Miran dissented in favor of a half percentage point cut), it was clear that Fed Chair Powell managed to rally a deeply divided committee and tune out heavy political pressure to find consensus. During his subsequent press conference, Powell noted that as the policy rate comes down, it typically leads to lower mortgage rates, though it would take significant rate changes to meaningfully impact the housing market. He also emphasized the challenges of forecasting in the current environment and pointed to a persistent nationwide housing shortage.
Now that the Fed has done what everyone expected, and the Dot Plot signaled that the Fed will likely cut the federal funds target rate a quarter percentage point at each of the next two decisions (October and December) before holding interest rates steady until June 2026, questions remain about the pace of rate cuts and what will happen to the economy until rates drop toward the neutral rate, thought to be around 3 percent. There are currently stronger growth and higher inflation than the Fed forecast in its most recent June Summary of Economic Projections. Another question is just how much the independence of the Fed will change over the next nine months: Treasury Secretary Bessent met with Lawrence Lindsey, Kevin Warsh, and James Bullard as potential replacements for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, and interviewing will formally start now that the September FOMC meeting is complete.
Following yesterday’s Fed events, weekly jobless claims (231k, a tad lower than anticipated; the 4-week moving average is 240k; 1.92 million continuing claims) and Philadelphia Fed manufacturing kicked off today’s calendar. Other items on today’s economic calendar include leading indicators, Treasury announcing month-end supply before auctioning $19 billion reopened 10-year TIPS and conducting a buyback in 10- to 20-year coupons for up to $2 billion, and Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (after rates hit the lowest levels since last October last week). Before the open, the Bank of England was out with its latest monetary policy decision, holding rates steady at 4.00 percent and changing the pace of quantitative tightening. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices roughly unchanged from Wednesday’s close, depending on coupon and maturity, the 2-year yielding 3.55, and the 10-year yielding 4.07 after closing yesterday at 4.08 percent.
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