“I was gambling in Las Vegas; I took a little risk. Send lawyers, guns, and money, Dad, get me out of this!” Hopefully, no one heading to LV tomorrow or this weekend runs into that kind of trouble. Did you know… The difference between an American roulette wheel and a European wheel? The American version has “00.” Fans of Lucifer, and numerology, know that, for both, the numbers add up to 666! Homeowners in Las Vegas are not typically big gamblers, unless you consider their housing values which, historically, are subject to big swings. Home prices in Southern Nevada have edged slightly lower in the last year, as the number of properties on the market continued to climb, “signaling a cooling but stabilizing housing market.” Las Vegas has its share of commercial buildings… Do the office markets and residential markets correlate? In Chicago, Walgreen’s is closing its Old Post Office location. In New Orleans, two landmark skyscrapers are in default. In New York, a building was just purchased for $25 million for conversion to residential. Nothing is constant but change. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s are sponsored by Floify, an industry-leading point of sale platform. With Floify’s new Dynamic AI feature, lenders can modify applications with no coding required and rely on AI to autofill key application fields, allowing borrowers to fill out only a few fields relevant to their needs. Hear an interview with Floify’s Sydney Barber on how Dynamic AI is built into its POS to automate tasks like document handling and income verification, speeding up approvals, improving compliance, and enhancing the borrower experience while freeing lenders to focus on relationships.)
Services, Products, Software, and Tools for Lenders and Brokers
In today’s fast-paced lending environment, time matters. ICE Flood provides comprehensive, automated flood determination reports to lenders in minutes. Even better, lenders only pay for the flood report if and when the loan closes. This means reduced origination costs, faster loan closings, and a smoother experience for borrowers. Integrated into the Encompass® loan origination system, ICE Flood helps lenders save time without compromising accuracy or compliance. Gain access to ICE’s nationwide public property records and property assessment data, manage flood zone determinations and experience a fast and easy implementation process. Explore how ICE Flood can help you streamline the origination process, lower costs, and expedite the time to close.
“Refis are on the rise, and many lenders are asking the same question: staff up or scale smarter? Before adding headcount in funding, post-closing, or treasury, consider OptiFunder. OptiFunder’s WMS delivers end-to-end automation for originators at a cost typically less than a single employee. From optimized warehouse allocations to automated funding templates for every warehouse, OptiFunder streamlines the entire process. Built-in wire data checks, collateral tracking, purchase advice reconciliation, warehouse paydowns, and robust reporting reduce risk while saving time. To make the value clear before purchase, OptiFunder runs backtests: side-by-side comparisons of your historical allocations against where our platform would have funded those same loans. The results show in real time the savings you could have achieved. In many cases, those savings alone offset the cost of another hire, before factoring in the additional efficiencies. Meet with the OptiFunder team at these events or schedule a demo to learn more.”
“Meet with MMI at NAMB, MBA & AIME Fuse, starting Fri, Oct 17. We’re hittin’ the road for three major events: come see what’s new from MMI including Pathways Home, our homeowner intelligence app that keeps your brand in front of clients post-close with daily equity, market, and refi insights. And also learn about the unified MMI experience: leverage MMI Data Center + MonitorBase + Bonzo to connect data, automate outreach, and grow repeat business, all in one place. Where to find us: NAMB National (Booth 115) | MBA Annual (Booth 507: Request a Pathways demo…limited slots), & AIME Fuse (Booth 521). Stop by to see Pathways Home in action and how MMI’s connected stack helps brokers and lenders compete, convert, and retain, all in one. Hope to see you there—safe travels!”
“Attending the Oct. 19-22 Mortgage Bankers Association Annual Conference in Las Vegas?
Connect with MeridianLink® Mortgage team at Booth #906 while you’re there! We’ll be on site to share how our mortgage tech empowers you to take full advantage of your data and create even smoother origination experiences with features including automated underwriting, pricing, & margin management, built-in compliance checks, rules, & alerts, and custom workflows tailored to your process. All within a seamless, powerful open API with hundreds of vendor integrations! Schedule a one-on-one meeting with us at the conference using this link and see how we can support your mortgage loan growth: https://hubs.ly/Q03L9R6l0.
Exceptional sub-servicing isn’t just about managing assets. It’s about creating trust. At Planet, that commitment shows in our 94 Net Promoter Score, one of the highest in the industry. When borrowers are satisfied, investors see stronger retention, and portfolios stay protected. With deep expertise across agency, non-agency, DSCR, SFR, and RTL portfolios, our S&P and Fitch-rated platform delivers the oversight and execution excellence investors demand. Partner with the sub-servicer that drives exceptional results. To secure your MBA Annual meeting, email us at subservicing@planethomelending.com.
“WHERE INNOVATION MEETS ICONIC SERVICING. SAGENT AT MBA ANNUAL 2025. The future of mortgage servicing is no longer just an imagination. It’s being built brick by brick. At this year’s MBA Annual, meet Sagent at the crossroads of innovation and servicing with our next-gen platform, Dara. Designed to simplify the complex, Dara unifies real-time data, compliance, and customer care into one seamless experience that sets a new standard for servicers and the homeowners we all serve. Join us at booth #606 to celebrate icons both classic and new, highlighting the foundations that have shaped our industry and the technology that’s transforming it. We've looked into the future of servicing, now let’s build it… together. For all things Sagent at MBA Annual, click here. “
“FundingShield, the leader in wire & title fraud prevention, released its Q3-2025 report showing 46.6 percent of transactions had deficiencies across a $90+ billion portfolio. A record 3.1 issues per flagged loan marks the highest concentration of risk ever recorded. CPL validation errors impacted 10.52 percent of transactions, wire-related issues were found in 9.14 percent, and license-related problems surged 23.11 percent quarter-to-quarter. ‘As fraud risks intensify and regulatory scrutiny deepens, including through MORA audits, our clients rely on us to validate source data and remediate issues in real time,’ said Ike Suri, CEO of FundingShield. ‘We’ve helped institutions pass audits, reduce fraud exposure, and improve loan quality, without disrupting workflows. Our embedded solution within LOS and closing processes, delivering compliance and cost savings at scale. With rate cuts expected to drive a surge in refinancing, we anticipate fraud volumes to double reinforced by this quarter’s record-high risk concentration.’ Contact us for demos or trials. Meet us at MBA Annual Vegas, AAPL Vegas, IMN SFR Scottsdale, CMBA Legal Issues
Credit, Verification, and Underwriting Products
In today’s market, timing and trust are everything. Early Access Soft Check from TransUnion® helps mortgage lenders stay ahead by offering a clearer view of creditworthiness, without impacting consumer scores. That means less risk of losing borrowers to trigger leads, smarter decisions about when to pull tri-merge reports and more confident conversations with homebuyers from the start. It’s a simple shift that can make a big difference in lead conversion and cost control. Learn more here if you’re ready to take a more strategic approach to pre-qualification.
“Looking to cut verification costs by up to 50 percent, while improving borrower experience and pull-through? Truework helps lenders streamline income and employment verification through a single VOIEA platform used by four of the top five lenders. With an industry-leading 75 percent completion rate, our platform consistently outperforms competitors and manual waterfalls in speed, cost, accuracy, and R&W relief. We also offer free pre-approvals to help you qualify borrowers faster: only pay when we complete a file. Used with First and Second liens as well as in Wholesale. Fast to implement, easy to use, and built to drive ROI. Let’s talk.”
“I Spy” began as a Victorian parlor game, evolved into a car-ride classic, and has inspired dozens of addicting search-and-find puzzles. Different eras, same goal: spot what others miss. Mortgage pros play their own version every day, scanning files for the one condition that could derail a deal. At this year’s MBA Annual Convention & Expo in Vegas, Friday Harbor is turning that skill into sport. Stop by booth #103 and see if you can ‘Spot the Condition’ in a challenge built for sharp eyes and quick minds. It’s an interactive way to see how Friday Harbor’s AI Originator Assistant flags underwriting issues before they surface, because in lending, catching it early means closing it clean. Visit fridayharbor.ai to learn more.
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.
Builders: In a Tight Spot?
The news out this week is that D.R. Horton is acquiring SK Builders. So yes, the nation’s largest builder is expanding its presence in the fast-growing South Carolina markets. Despite what President Trump has to say about builders stepping up their game, the question those of us in the biz are asking is, “Are homebuilders really stalling, or are high rates to blame?”
For years people have pointed out inventory issues, but those seem to be behind us. In the first quarter of this year, unsold home inventory peaked at 507,000, the highest since October 2007! As of July 2025, there were 121,000 completed single-family homes sitting unsold in the U.S., which is a 20 percent increase from 2024 and the most since 2009. By August, there was an inventory of 490,000 new homes for sale.
That means inventory is available, new homes are waiting to be purchased, but they sit, unoccupied. According to some housing analysts, the president should set his sights on interest rates or lenders. Interest rates, not the fault of lenders, are simply too high for some potential buyers right now, leaving thousands of homes unsold. Zillow speculates the country is 4.7 million units short in its July 2025 analysis, while the National Association of Realtors (“NAR”) estimates a 5.5-million-unit shortage. So, if there are over 100,000 finished homes waiting to be sold, how and why is the country millions of homes “short”?
Few disagree that we’ve seen years of underbuilding. With 70 million millennials potentially searching, the U.S. has not built enough homes to keep up with population growth or the high demand from millennials entering their prime homebuying years. Some unsold homes sitting vacant are in areas with little demand or declining populations, making them difficult for owners or builders to sell.
But there are other things going on. Remember when investors soaked up the “foreclosure tidal wave” of 2011? Investors purchase a significant portion of available homes, especially from builders, removing them from the market for individual buyers and creating a shortage. These purchases reached record highs earlier in 2025 when data shows that investors bought approximately 30 percent of single-family homes (both new and existing) on the market. Once investors (often “mom and pop”) buy these homes, often directly from builders, they rent them out rather than making them available for the public to buy. Not only that, but the rising cost of construction materials, labor, and financing results in elevated home prices, many of which buyers find unaffordable.
The bottom line is, yes, there is some unsold inventory. But America still needs more affordable homes. A flood of new supply from homebuilders would theoretically help lower prices, all else equal. The question is whether these companies can do that profitably and what the federal government can do to help. By urging major housing financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to pressure big homebuilders, President Trump aims to kick the housing market into gear. How can Freddie and Fannie, government-sponsored enterprises ("GSEs") exert pressure?
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”), an independent government agency that supervises GSEs like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to ensure a fair U.S. housing finance system, will likely turn to their affordable housing goals to jumpstart building. The industry knows that the FHFA creates goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to provide affordable housing by purchasing mortgages for minority and low-income borrowers, and by renting to low-income families. The goals (updated every three years by the FHFA) help ensure the GSEs focus on underserved markets.
When a GSE meets its Affordable Housing Goals, it can access better financing terms. This provides more incentive for the lender to finance even more affordable housing. Pushing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to pressure homebuilders may involve FHFA policy changes, which can come in many forms:
By encouraging affordable housing and adjusting housing goal benchmarks, and adjusting goals, the FHFA can push GSEs to purchase more loans for affordable properties and new construction. Adoption of different credit score models (like VantageScore) expands credit access to a wider group of potential buyers. Additionally, the FHFA can streamline the application process for developers to receive Federal Home Loan Bank (the other GSE under FHFA) funds for affordable housing projects.
The FHFA can support the financing of manufactured homes, an important source of affordable housing. This includes the purchase of “construction-to-permanent” loans that cover the cost of new manufactured homes, land, and installation. However, many housing industry experts don’t see the lack of newly built homes as a supply problem; rather, it’s a zoning and permit issue. And there isn’t much GSEs can do about that since that is a local issue.
David Engle with Stansberry Research writes, “According to the National Association of Home Builders (“NAHB”), government regulations at all levels accounted for almost 24 percent of the final price of a new single-family home and 40 percent of the cost of a multifamily home in 2021. A 2022 survey also revealed that 83 percent of developers facing project delays cited permitting issues as the reason.
“In most cases, however, zoning laws and building codes exist for good reasons: to manage traffic, protect the environment, and prevent overcrowding. But some laws and regulations are so outdated that reform is likely the only way to resolve the crisis and accelerate development.”
As the debate between homebuilders and policymakers rages on, one thing is clear: housing prices are sky high, and the pressure is on to increase the nation’s housing supply. Between high list prices, high mortgage prices (even if they did drop this month), and how debt-ridden consumers are… there’s not much incentive for people to buy a home these days. Which means there’s not much room for homebuilders to profit.
Capital Markets
As rate shifts, loan volume changes, and borrower behaviors evolve, the ability to actively manage margins can be the difference between protecting profitability and giving it away. MCT’s latest blog, Margin Management and Price Optimization in Mortgage Lending, features expert insights about how lenders can strengthen performance through intentional pricing strategies, price elasticity testing, and data-driven decision-making. The blog outlines six business intelligence inputs to help lenders analyze rate sheet pricing, production mix, and competitive position more effectively. Read how proactive margin management helps lenders maintain discipline, protect capacity, and uncover opportunities for improved execution in any market cycle.
In the markets, after President Trump threatened to impose another round of tariffs in recent days, volatility has prevailed (not something capital market folks like). The 30-year bond yield fell to its lowest level since April while the 10-year yield approached, but stopped just above, it’s low from September as it rejected the 4 percent level for the second straight day. The yield curve flattened a bit, and swap spreads were mostly tighter. Mortgage-backed securities saw small price declines, especially in 5 percent to 6 percent coupons, and spreads widened slightly. The Empire State Manufacturing survey rose in October, when it was expected to remain in contractionary territory.
Today's jobless claims, PPI (maybe), retail sales, and business inventories are all expected to be delayed due to the partial government shutdown. That leaves Philadelphia Fed manufacturing, which kicked off today’s economic calendar, and the NAHB Housing Market Index, due out later this morning. Treasury then announces the auction sizes for reopened 20-year bonds and 5-year TIPS, before conducting a buyback in 7-year to 10-year coupons for up to $4 billion. The afternoon includes Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey and a laundry list of Fed appearances, with at least seven scheduled Fed speakers. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices unchanged from Wednesday’s close, the 2-year yielding 3.49, and the 10-year yielding 4.03 after closing yesterday at 4.05 percent.
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